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ghostburs-blue · 4 years ago

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Comfort Crowd

Summary: the girl who lives next door!au but with a fun lil gay twist (fem!reader, is bi)

Warnings: angst, heartbreak, etc

Word count: on the shorter side, 1.2k

a/n: happy birthday to the loml, hj <33 i’m so glad we messaged each other all those years, okay weeks, ago. the that’s homophobic chat loves you to literal death and eggsy does too <3 youre everything to me have an amazing day bb i love you! everyone go wish her happy birthday @eusuntgroot !! this is also pt 1 of my album series, where i write a fic based off of every song in an album. we’re just starting off with kid krow by conan gray :) i haven’t seen anyone do this idea b4 so pls lmk if there’s anyone who has done it!

You stared down at your phone screen in the dark of your room, finger hovering over Spencer’s contact. Before you could second guess yourself, you hit “call”.

“Y/n?” Spencer’s voice poured out of the speaker, and you choked back a sob. “It’s almost 3 am, what’s wrong?”

“Spence,” you whispered, and immediately you felt the shift on the other side of the line. “It’s over, we’re over,” you cried, unable to hold back the tears.

“Open your window,” he murmured. Without hesitation, you slid the pane of glass open. Within a second, he clambered in, rather ungracefully you might add, falling on the carpeted floor with a soft thump, and you couldn’t have been more grateful your parents were out of town. Spencer sat up and gazed at you, heart breaking slightly at the sight of you curled up on your bed.

Your head poked up from the sea of blankets around you, and Spencer’s face broke into a small grin. You made grabby hand motions towards him, and he groaned slightly, though you knew he was just messing with you.

The sound of your whine caused Spencer’s stomach to erupt into butterflies, and he gulped hard in an attempt to keep them down. Not the time, he thought to himself, making his way to your bed. You made a small space next to you so Spencer could crawl in right next to you.

He stretched out on the mattress and you both fell into the position you had been in so many times that it felt like second nature. You shifted to place your head on his stomach, feeling the calm wash over you with every rise and fall of his diaphragm. You looked up at him with adoring eyes, only to find him already gazing down back at you.

The both of you kept eye contact, and you moved back up to cuddle into his side. His arm came down to wrap around your waist, holding you tighter against him. Turning, you pressed your nose into his chest.

Spencer stiffened as he felt your tears soak into his thin cotton shirt. He lowered his head to press a kiss against your forehead, causing you to cry harder. His gentle shushing quieted you down, the sweet nothings he whispered into your ear soothing your pain.

“Are you ready to tell me what happened?” He whispered, lips ghosting against your skin as they moved. You sniffled slightly, then nodded.

“I-,” your voice broke slightly. “Caroline broke up with me,” you murmured, and if possible, you felt your heart break even further. “She- She told me she met someone else,” and just like that, all your resolve dissolved. “I can’t do it anymore, Spencer,” you cried, and you felt the shirt underneath your cheek become soggy with your tears. “I’m sorry,” you laughed slightly, attempting to dry your eyes. “Gods, this is embarrassing,” you apologized.

“Don’t apologize!” Reid exclaimed, though he felt like someone was ripping his heart out of his body while simultaneously choking him. “Caroline doesn’t deserve you and everything you are. There’s someone out there much better for you, I promise bug,” he whispered into your hair, inhaling the scent of your sweet shampoo. He shifted at the feeling of your head moving under him.

“I love you, did you know that?” You asked, feeling nothing but adoration at the sight of the curly haired boy lying next to you.

“I love you too, my sweet,” he responded, though as he tucked your head under his chin, he knew you would never love him like he loved you.

“I would give up my soul to stay here and talk with you forever,” you muttered out of the blue. Spencer’s breath hitched.

“Yeah?” He asked for confirmation.

“Yeah,” you respond, contentment spreading through your body. He pulled you closer to him, if that was even possible. Reid prayed to every god he didn’t believe in that you would never leave his life, even if that meant keeping you as only a friend.

A thought entered his head, and he sat up suddenly with a grin.

“Get up,” Spencer instructed you.

You frowned at him. “What?”

“You heard me,” he said, smiling happily. “Get up!”

With a groan, you pulled yourself up from your sheets, swinging your legs over the edge of the bed and stepping off. Spencer grabbed your hand, pulling you out your door and down the stairs.

You grumbled as he led you into your kitchen, then let out a little yelp as he placed his hands on your hips and lifted you onto the kitchen island. You kicked your feet as you watched him move around the kitchen, biting your cheek to hide a smile.

Spencer grabbed a few pasta boxes from the cabinet, then to the fridge for cheese and milk. Within 20 minutes, he had whipped up your favorite dish— his world famous mac and cheese.

You giggled, grabbing the bowl from his outstretched hands and placing a kiss on Spencer’s cheek. His face flushed, though you didn’t seem to notice.

You dug in excitedly, seemingly forgetting about why you had called him over in the first place. You grabbed a forkful and fed it to Spencer, gently grabbing his jaw to place the pasta in his mouth. Oh boy, he felt like he was about to explode.

After dinner, you cleaned up the bowls and pots. Spencer, once again, grabbed your hand and led you to another part of your house. This time, it was the living room.

He gently pushed you down onto the sofa, sitting down next to you and grabbing the TV remote. He turned on your favorite show, grabbing the throw blanket from the back of the couch and spreading it over you. You lay down, placing your head in his lap and turning to watch the television screen.

Reid looked down at you, gently pushing his fingers through your soft hair. With the light of the sitcom playing shining on your face in the dark room, eyes gleaming with amusement, he knew this was a moment he was going to remember forever.

When his hands stilled, you let out a little sound and pushed back into them. With a laugh, he continued his motions, massaging your scalp delicately with the tips of his slightly calloused fingers. You sighed happily, settling into the comfort and warmth of Spencer’s body.

You both knew the moment was bound to end. But until then, you were perfectly content to lay with Spencer for as long as you could.

“Hey Spence?” You rolled over and poked his stomach to get his attention, though he was already looking down at you.

“What’s up?” He asked.

“Thank you, for everything,” you murmured, a smile on your face. Reid opened his mouth to say something, but you shushed him with a giggle. “You didn’t have to do any of this. You didn’t have to come over at this late to comfort me or anything!” You exclaimed. You sat up, motions exaggerated and slightly wild. Spencer stifled a laugh.

He grabbed your hands and held them in his. “Hey, listen. It’s okay. It’s what best friends do, isn’t it?” He jokes with a heavy heart. You readily agreed.

“It is,” you smiled, laying back down in his lap.

And with that, Spencer sighed, resuming the repetitive motion of threading his digits through your hair. Deep down, he knew you would never see him as what you wanted him to. But if that meant keeping you as his best friend, he was all for it.

#roo's fics #spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid fanfiction #cm #criminal minds #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds fanfiction #spencer reid x yn #fanfiction #bau #bau fanfiction #bau x reader #s.r. x reader #song fic #spencer reid song fic #kid krow

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tameila · 3 years ago

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March Week Five Albums.

March 28th: Hounds of Love, Kate Bush

familiarity: i heard Placebo’s cover of “Running Up That Hill” when i was in, like, middle school because i loved a couple of songs off their Sleeping With Ghosts album. listened to the original. didn’t like it as much. relistened to it again a decade later and changed my mind. yes, i’m one of THOSE people. I’M SORRY.

favorite(s) before listen: Running Up That Hill (Deal With God)

favorite(s) after listen: Running Up That Hill (Deal With God), Hounds of Love, Cloudbusting, Waking the Witch, Jig of Life, Hello Earth

March 29th: Here, Here, and Here; Meg & Dia

familiarity: I discovered “Here, Here, and Here” from an amv. don’t ask me for what fandom. i’m a different person now. anyway, i adore it and still love to come back to it now and then. but, I actually discovered Meg & Dia through their song “Monster”.

favorite(s) before listen: Here, Here, and Here; Fighting for Nothing

favorite(s) after listen: Here, Here, and Here; Fighting for Nothing, Going Away, Hug Me, Black Wedding, One Sail, The Last Great Star in Hollywood

standout lyric: “I'm a wanderer now, sorrow befalls me / I laugh often so I suppose I'm gonna be fine / Mozart he said "there's nothing to composing" / And that's all we do, we just / Write and play and write and play and write and”

March 30th: NATURAL, ORANGE RANGE

familiarity: Orange Range was a staple of early 00s anime, so I know a spattering of their songs across numerous albums. “Natural Pop” was and still is my favorite song of theirs. It’s their best song, okay? You can’t tell me otherwise...Asterisk is close though....

favorite(s) before listen: Natural Pop, *~Asterisk~, Kirikirimai

favorite(s) after listen: Natural Pop, *~Asterisk~, Kirikirimai, Rain, sunrise, Love Parade

March 31st: Kid Krow, Conan Gray

familiarity: Discovered Conan through his song, “Maniac”, stayed for his queer hit, “Heather”. Always gotta support young queer artists! I’m familiar with some of his more recent singles like “People Watching” and “Telepathy”, as well as some of his older songs like “Crush Culture”

favorite(s) before listen: Maniac, Heather, Little League

favorite(s) after listen: Maniac, Heather, Little League, Wish You Were Sober, Checkmate, The Cut That Always Bleeds, The Story

standout lyric: "Both our parents were evil, so we both made a bet / If we worked and we saved, we could both run away / And we'd have a better life, and I was right / I wonder if she's alright”

April 1st: Light Upon The Lake, Whitney

familiarity: A recommendation from my best friend!

favorite(s) before listen: N/A

favorite(s) after listen: No Woman, Golden Days, No Matter Where You Go, Follow**

standout lyric: "I pray your troubled mind remembers / When it's coming to an end / At least the rain won't come again”

April 2nd: Leave The Light On, Pillow Queens

favorite(s) before listen: N/A

favorite(s) after listen: Be By Your Side, Hearts & Minds, House That Sailed Away, Well Kept Wife

standout lyric: “You came to worship but the godless kind”

April 3rd: Flickers, Niall Horan

familiarity: I was a little too old to board the 1D train, but I claim Harry and Niall in the divorce....though I’ve never kept up with Niall’s stuff. However, I got a tiktok boosting “On My Own” from this album and really enjoyed what I heard, so I figured it was as good a time as any to check it out. I have heard “Slow Hands” from this album but it never really piqued my interest. As an after listen note, I gotta say that whoever on his team decided that “Slow Hands” should be the single from this album failed Niall miserably.

favorite(s) before listen: N/A

favorite(s) after listen: This Town, Seeing Blind, Paper Houses, Flicker, On My Own, Mirrors

standout lyric: “Everybody's got somebody / I just wanna be alone”

#one album each day 2k22

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theinkyisles · 3 years ago

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take a break (i know a place where we can stay)

word count: 6553 warnings: alcohol, implied major character death, violence, blood ao3 link author’s notes: thank you to the aphverse discord server and aphblr for hyping me up!! thank you especially to bee (for the wonderful podcast), krow (for you absolutely delightful responses to the sneak peeks) and cyrus (for your cheering on and equally delightful comments to the sneak peeks <33) description: the four to five times that laurance tried to convince garroth to take a break and the two times he succeeded.

“Garroth, I swear to Irene that you are one of the most boring people alive.” Garroth rolled his eyes, keeping his attention on sharpening his sword. Laurance was leaning against the doorway to his quarters, his arms and expression crossed.

“Just because I prioritize the protection of the village over games doesn’t mean that I’m boring, Laurance, it means that I’m the head guard,” the blond replied. Laurance scoffed and lifted himself from off the doorway, making his way to sit next to his friend.

“At the academy, what did you do on your days off?” Garroth looked at Laurance questioningly, unsure where the conversation was going. Laurance motioned for him to answer.

“I don’t really remember,” he started, before pursing his lips. “I suppose I would just train for the next day, so that I wouldn’t get sloppy.” He turned back down to his sword and picked up a rag beside him to begin polishing. He saw Laurance shaking his head in the corner of his eye.

“What about as a kid? Before you left for the academy.” Garroth chuckled and shook his head.

“I know what you’re trying to do, Laurance, and it’s not going to work.” Laurance raised his eyebrows and turned to better face the head guard.

“Really? What am I trying to do? Please, enlighten me,” he said mockingly. Garroth sighed, set his sword down, and looked Laurance in the eye.

“You’re trying to get me to admit to a time when I took time off and how much better off I was for it,” he said wryly. “And it’s not going to work because I think we have established that having Garte as a father did not endear me to getting ‘breaks’.” Laurance stared at him, eyes wide in shock. The room was silent. Garroth sighed again and leaned back, using his hands to brace himself against the wooden bench. “You can set up this game night, if you’d like, but I will remain on patrol. It would be remiss of me not to.”

“What, so the rest of us get a break, but you have to be all holier-than-thou and self-sacrificing? Bullshit!” Garroth spluttered, turning slightly red in the face.

“Watch your language,” he whispered hysterically, “you can’t speak like that so loudly!” Laurance rolled his eyes.

“Oh, please, you prudish princess, no lady is going to faint because she heard me swear.” Garroth stammered for a response, but Laurance cut him off. “You need to take a break. If you pass out from working too hard, the Lady will not hesitate to kill me, you know that.” Garroth’s face turned an even brighter shade of red, and he looked away to the opposite side of the room.

“The Lady would do no such thing to you, we both know that.” He heard Laurance scoff.

“Please, we all know how fond of you she is. ‘Second-in-command’, aren’t you?”

“The Lady is plenty fond of you as well, Laurance,” Garroth shot back, a hint of irritability in his voice. Laurance gave him a deadpan look.

“She’s not in love with either of us, we know this,” Laurance said bitterly. Garroth scrunched his nose and then let himself rest his elbows against his knees. He kept staring at the floor.

“I am well aware.”

Minutes passed between them, Garroth leaning forward and Laurance resting his head against the wall behind the bench. It was so odd, being in love with the same woman as his best friend. They both knew she didn’t love them, but it didn’t stop them from pining piteously and squabbling like hormonal teenagers. Nevertheless, it allowed him to have a deeper understanding of Laurance’s character. There was something beating in both their chests; only the two of them really knew what it was and could truly comprehend the adrenaline rush and agonizing insecurities that came of it.

For all the pain that came with being in love with the same woman as his best friend, there was an awful lot of reward.

“I wasn’t kidding,” Laurance said, his soft voice breaking the silence.

“About?”

“The whole game night thing.”

“Oh.” Garroth exhaled harshly and sat up straight. He picked up his sword, which was laying length-side beside him on the bench. He grabbed his rag off the floor where he dropped it and got back to polishing the grimy blade. Laurance scoffed and Garroth heard his friend’s head thump against the wall in frustration.

“This is your passive-aggressive way of telling me that you’re not gonna join, isn’t it?”

“You know me so well.”

The winter days were short, but the nights lasted an eternity. Being by the water endeared the village of Phoenix Drop to hazardous cold weather and dreaded slush that seeped through even the thickest of fur-lined leather boots. Moving around in chilled chainmail was the worst of it all, ice growing quickly in the crevices of the armor, despite how often the patrol would slip inside the guard tower to soak up the heat of the fire. Assassins and spies and thieves came in more frequently in the winter, the snow and cloud cover giving them the perfect camouflage. Barely a day went by without the jail cells being filled to the brink. Most nights, the small unit of guards in the tiny village ended their days at the make-shift tavern in the plaza, warming their frozen hands by the fire and their shivering social lives with a pint. Laurance joined them, more often than not, reminiscing in his mind of the times in Meteli where Ulrich and Glenda would join him in drunken song as they stumbled home. On one notable occasion, Sasha had joined them after a long day and he woke up the next morning, a white hyacinth on his nightstand and warm, empty sheets beside him.

Garroth never stepped foot inside the tavern, other than to drag Dale out by his hair. The other guards complained of how much of a hard-ass he was to them and Laurance was inclined to agree. He pushed the guards to rigorous training levels, often forcing them to come in on their days off. Patrols went on longer and they went out farther and the guards were gone for hours in the cold without a fire to heat their skin and bones. It was practically inhumane, to the point that Laurance humorously wondered who really was the Shadow Knight between the two of them.

Though he never voiced it to the other guards, he understood Garroth’s twisted reasoning. The winter season was a stressful time for a head guard, as Laurance had come to learn during his time in Meteli. People needed feeding so you had to watch for thieves stealing from stores and occasional shipment of goods. People couldn’t be fed without a lord to delegate the storage and rations, so you had to keep a strict eye on potential assassins. Not to mention that the weather was draining on anyone’s morale and sometimes it felt like drowning yourself in patrol and training was the only way to get through to the break of sun through the clouds. He watched as Garroth sulked off after training, observed as he marched across the village during patrol, noted when he caught another criminal and tossed them into one of the few jail cells they had.

It was disgustingly depressing and Laurance wasn’t going to let this go on for any longer.

“Guards, I have scheduled another training session for tomorrow,” Garroth announced after the day patrol had returned. “Be here before sunrise or I will come knocking at your doors and I doubt your wives and children will be too pleased about that.” A loud groan came from Brian, and Dale threw his helm halfheartedly in Garroth’s direction. It hit the ground with a clunk and Laurance could feel Garroth staring at it disapprovingly, even if he couldn’t see his eyes through the helm. Even Dante, who sported the optimism and drive common in young guards, smacked his head gently against the stone wall of the guards’ meeting place. “You all are dismissed.”

Laurance watched as Garroth turned on his toes and walked his way out of the room, his steel-toed boots clunking against the ground. “Lauraaaance,” Dante whined, his voice muffled by his face being smushed into the wall. “Can’t you talk some sense into him? These extra sessions are driving me nuts.” Dale threw his hand up in agreement, pointing it in Dante’s direction.

“I’ve barely seen my wife and daughter this week!” Dale added. Brian nodded; his eyes were half-lidded with exhaustion. “Brian and I have been just passing out at home and then His Majesty just busts down the door as if we don’t need to sleep!” Laurance pursed his lips, looking at the direction Garroth stalked off in.

“I’ll talk to him,” he said finally, “we’re probably not the only ones sick and tired of this.”

“Alright, asshole, spit it out, what’s going on with you?” Garroth barely jumped as the door slamming open against the stone, but his shoulders tensed at the swear. His helm covered his face and neck, but Laurance could only imagine how red in the face his friend was.

“Laurance, by Irene, if I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a million times, you can’t say those things so loudly!” Laurance tossed his head back in frustration, groaning dramatically.

“Garroth, you’re a boring princess from O’khasis, let me live a little.” Garroth shook his head, still obviously flustered. Laurance marched across the room, throwing himself onto Garroth’s bed.

“You are going to fix those sheets when you get up or I’m going to lock you out tonight,” Garroth said, pointedly not looking in Laurance’s direction.

“I’d probably do it wrong, anyways, Mr. I-Had-Servants-To-Do-My-Chores.” Garroth made a face and opened his mouth to retort but nothing came out. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

“Oh, be quiet,” Garroth grumbled.

“I don’t think I will, actually,” Garroth spared a glance to where Laurance was sitting on his bed, probably rolling his eyes beneath his helm at the Cheshire grin spread across his friend’s face.

“What are you even here for? I thought you liked to go down to the tavern after patrols.” Laurance laid down on the bed, kicking his feet up onto the footboard. “Don’t you dare get dirt on those sheets.”

“Piss off, Garroth, I have a sister, I know better than that.” He clasped his hands beneath his head, supporting his neck, and shuffled to get comfy on the stiff, hay mattress. “And to answer your question, I am on a mission.”

“A mission,” Garroth said flatly.

“Yes, a mission.” Laurance heard Garroth sigh, and smiled slightly to himself.

“And what would that mission be?” Garroth droned, only barely playing along to Laurance’s scheming.

“My mission,” Laurance stated proudly, “is to get you, sir I-perpetually-have-a-stick-up-my-ass, to give the rest of us a break.”

“What.” Laurance snickered, pulled a hand out from beneath his head, holding it up in a “don’t look at me” fashion. He could practically feel Garroth's glare grow stronger.

“The guards are tired. I’m tired. These extra training sessions are killing us.” Laurance turned onto his side, keeping one arm tucked under his head. “I get that the winter is hard, Garroth,” his voice becoming softer, “but you can’t have guards and work them to death too.”

The room fell silent. It hit Laurance that Garroth was still dressed head-to-toe in armor, as if he was about to go on another patrol, despite Dante having just head out for one himself. His sword shone brightly at his side, but his friend was hunched over the small dresser he had in his quarters, clutching at the end of the wood. His hands trembled, shaking the dresser with it with a gentle clink-clink against the uneven floor.

“Garroth?”

“How long were you head guard at Meteli?” Laurance blinked, unprepared for the question. He sat up slowly, letting his feet fall from the footboard onto the ground.

“I- I’m not sure, to be honest,” he started.

“What’s your best guess?”

“Maybe…three, four years? I was sixteen when I graduated from the training academy, so I would’ve been twenty when I took over as head guard. My dad-” Laurance’s voice caught in his throat and tears burned at the corner of his eyes. Garroth shifted slightly to glance at him, but Laurance ducked his head down. “The lord of Meteli died six months before I met the Lady.” Laurance swallowed hard, breathing in deeply to get rid of the lump in his throat. “It’s hard, when feelings get involved.” Laurance said, his voice solemn. A beat passed and he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. “Doesn’t give you a pass to beat your guards down to the point where you don’t have any left.”

“You still don’t understand,” Garroth said quietly.

“Try me,” Laurance shot back.

“In Meteli,” he started, “you had a wide array of guards underneath your command, correct?”

“Yes, I did.” Laurance wiggled further back along the bed, letting his body lean against the wall the bed was pushed up against. “Where is this going?”

“You had several well-trained guards at your beckon and call, many older than you and with more experience,” Garroth continued, acting as if he hadn’t heard Laurance’s question, his voice getting louder with each word. “Meaning that you didn’t have to worry about a father and son with zero technique with a baby girl and a wife and mother at home!” Laurance’s eyes blinked in surprise and he sat up on the bed. “It means that you didn’t have to deal with the fact that if a sixteen-year-old dies on your watch, you will have to hunt down his family and tell them about how it is your fault he died!”

“Garroth, wait-”

“You don’t have-” Garroth choked on his own words, forcing himself to swallow. “You weren’t here when she first arrived,” he whispered, his voice shaking with emotion. “If she dies, that’s it for Phoenix Drop. That’s it for the entire region. We have no more second chances.” Laurance could see the barely suppressed sobs shaking Garroth’s body.

He got up from the bed and gently put his hands on Garroth’s shoulder. If even possible, he felt his friend tense even further beneath his hands, but he applied a bit of pressure against the shoulder plates and Garroth forced his shoulders to drop. Laurance reached underneath the shoulder plates, undoing the leather straps he knew were hidden beneath the cape that denoted Garroth’s position as head guard. The two plates were swiftly thrown to the floor, clanking as they hit the stone. As soon as the cloak fluttered to the ground, some amount of tension released from Garroth’s shoulder. Slowly, Laurance went for the buckles for the chainmail sleeves and armor they all wore beneath their tunics. It slid to the ground, and when Garroth seemed to make a move to pick it up, Laurance gave him a kick behind the knees. “Don’t move, this is hard enough as it is.” His friend didn’t say anything back.

Soon the belt and scabbard were also on the floor and the diamond sword was in its proper rack. At this point, Garroth was like a rag doll, held up only by leaning against the dresser, his hands struggling to keep their grip against the wood. Laurance gently lifted the helm from his friend’s head, setting it on the top of the dresser. He pressed gently against Garroth’s side and his friend all but collapsed into him. They stumbled over to the bed a few paces away and Laurance lay Garroth down, making sure his head hit the pillow.

As soon as Garroth seemed comfortable, Laurance sunk down to the ground, sitting so that his side was pressed up against the bed frame and he was facing the head of the bed.

“You need a break,” he whispered, grabbing onto his friend’s hand. “We all need a break.” Garroth nodded and turned his head towards the wall, closing his eyes and exhaling. Laurance watched as his friend’s breathing evened out, and, content that Garroth wasn’t going to go anywhere anytime soon, rested his head against the edge of the mattress frame. He could barely think a thought before he was fast asleep, clutching his friend’s hand and curled up on the stone floor.

When he woke up, maybe an hour later, he was laying on top of a cold bed in room suspiciously devoid of armor and a certain diamond sword and shield.

“Damnit, Garroth.”

“Laurance!” said guard turned to look over his shoulder at his name being called to find his lord waving at him as she walked down the road he was patrolling. “What are you doing this lovely spring day? Isn’t Garroth giving you guys a day off for today? It is so nice down by the docks,” she said excitedly. Laurance smiled.

“I volunteered to patrol for part of the day but I’m taking a break after I walk around for a bit more, if you’d like to walk with me till then?” Laurance offered out his hand and Aphmau giggled, her cheeks turning red. His heart beat a bit faster as Aphmau looped her arm around his. They walked down the side street of the small village, his Lady in one arm and his sword in the other. “How is your day going, milady?”

“Levin and Malachi have been getting along really well, so I took them both down to visit the docks for a bit! Levin is used to being inside all day, but after centuries of being inside a castle, Malachi is a bit of a restless spirit.” She paused for a moment, before laughing. “Accidental pun!” Laurance chuckled.

“I’m glad that he’s adjusting well to Phoenix Drop. Can’t be easy being him,” Laurance murmured and Aphmau nodded in agreement.

“How’s Garroth doing?” she asked casually and Laurance’s heart drooped for a moment at the attention being drawn to his romantic rival and friend. He shook his head internally, forcing himself to not think about it. That would be saved for when he didn’t have the love of his life right in front of him.

“He’s fine,” he said cautiously, “I think he’s glad for winter to be over.” Aphmau furrowed her brow, looking up at Laurance in confusion.

“Oh? Why’s that?” Laurance quirked his lips questioningly. He would’ve thought that as lord, she would have known the trouble the head guard went through during the winter, especially since half of it was making sure that she didn’t die midway through the season.

“Well, guard heads usually have to increase security because of an increased threat of thieves sneaking in,” he explained. Aphmau made a little ‘oh’ in understanding and he took it as his cue to keep talking. “Not to mention, it’s much harder to keep our little lord alive with all of those assassinations attempt coming from O’khasis.”

“What?!” she exclaimed. “What assassination attempts?”

“The ones you aren’t supposed to know about, milady,” said a voice coming from behind them. The pair turned around to find Garroth, without his helm. “But Laurance has never been keen on keeping his mouth shut when he needs to.”

“Oy,” Laurance laughed, “not all of us can be the oh so perfect Sir Garroth.” Garroth rolled his eyes, his cheeks lighting up only the slightest bit red.

“Laurance was telling me about all the stuff you had to do during the winter, since you’re the head guard,” Aphmau said, before turning on Garroth with a pout. “Why didn’t you tell me you were so stressed? I would’ve done something to help out.” At his expression, it almost looked as if her words had physically hit Garroth in the chest and Laurance had to keep from laughing at Garroth’s incessant stammering.

“W-well, I just didn’t want to bother you, my Lady.” Aphmau pouted even further and red started creeping up Garroth’s neck. “Besides, I kept everything fairly well-balanced, it wasn’t that difficult of a winter.”

“Bullshit!” Laurance sang out, a cheeky grin making its way onto his face at Garroth’s suddenly straining smile and betrayed look in his eyes. “I tried to get him to take a break so many times, but someone has issues.”

“Laurance,” Garroth said warningly. Laurance sheathed his sword and held his hand up in a defensive motion.

“I just speak the truth,” Laurance said, a mock-innocent tone in his voice. He turned to Aphmau stage-whispering, “I even tried to start a weekly game night at the guard tower, but he completely shut me down!” Aphmau gasped.

“Oh, a game night! That would be so fun, wouldn’t it, Garroth?” she asked, clutching tighter onto Laurance’s arm as she bounced on her toes. “I could build you guys an extra space at the tower so you could play! I’m sure there are some board games we could ask Logan to order and I’m sure KC could get snacks-” she stopped, squinting slightly before looking up at the two men. “I’m getting ahead of myself, aren’t I?” Laurance laughed.

“Just a bit, Aph,” he said, his voice slightly apologetic. “But…now that you’re on board with my idea, I’m sure you could convince Garroth to allow it, right?” He made eye contact with Garroth over the top of Aph’s head, trying not to chuckle when his friend made several non-discreet ‘cut it out’ gestures.

Aph spun on her toes to face Garroth, letting go of Laurance’s arm to grab onto Garroth’s free hand. “Gar, it would be so cool if you guys would have a game night. You could be…” she gasped dramatically, “game knights! Like with a ‘K’!” She giggled and peered up at him through her eyelashes. Laurance crossed his arm and smirked as Garroth visibly melted beneath her gaze. “Please, Gar? For me?”

“A-ah, well, it would take sig-significant planning, I would think,” Garroth stammered, desperately trying to avert his eyes. Something caught his attention and Laurance quirked his head to the side, trying to figure out what he was looking at. “Besides,” he began slowly, a sly smirk spreading across his face, “didn’t Laurance promise to help Cadenza show off some of her new clothes? Wouldn’t you want to help out with that?” Laurance’s eyes widened and he followed Garroth’s gaze to where his sister was loading some new ridiculous new dresses into the glass display cases. Aphmau gasped.

“Oh my gosh, you’re right!” Aphmau exclaimed. “Laurance, you are gonna look so pretty in that green dress over there. Cadenza!” She grabbed Laurance’s arm, dragging him down the street to his sister’s shop.

“Wh- wait! Hey!” He tripped over his cloak, completely caught off guard by the sudden shift in attention. Behind him, he could hear his friend chucking quietly. “Oh, fuck you, Garroth!” he shouted, throwing up his middle finger. “I’ll get you to take a break one of these days!”

“Garroth!” he shouted. Through the rain and mud and clamor, he managed to get his friend’s attention. “Garroth, where have you been, it’s been hours-” Garroth stumbled forward and Laurance reached out to grab him. Garroth stabilized himself against Laurance’s bracers, but his feet were still unsteady beneath him and Laurance could feel his friend swaying slightly. “Are you okay?” Garroth only clenched his eyes shut, panting heavily before spitting out saliva and what looked like a tooth onto the blood-stained ground. His grip on Laurance’s bracers tightened and he pitched forward slightly. “Okay, it’s alright, Gar, I’ve got you.” Laurance scanned the horizon, all too aware of the incoming soldiers and his friend’s uneven breathing against his chest. “We’re gonna get you help.”

He and Garroth stumbled behind an old, abandoned shop and Laurance pressed them both against the wall, watching with anxious eyes as the guards of the city passed by them, some general shouting orders over the stomping of feet against the cobblestone ground. As soon as the path was clear, he pulled them further down the alley into the shadows. He carefully laid Garroth against the wall and he winced as his friend spasmed in pain. “I didn’t expect there to be guards so far in the forest,” Garroth groaned, rolling his head back as he clenched his fists. “The patrol never went out that far when I lived here.”

“They probably expanded their routes to try and spot incoming armies after we announced the new alliance,” Laurance hypothesized, making quick work of Garroth’s armor in an attempt to find where the bleeding seeping through his friend’s tunic was coming from. “It makes sense. I should’ve stayed with you, I should’ve seen this coming.” Garroth started shaking his head before Laurance finished speaking.

“No- gah, be careful, would you?”

“Sorry.”

“You shouldn’t have stayed with me, Laurance,” Garroth continued, his voice getting breathy as Laurance started prodding around the edges of the, admittedly, gruesome wound. He had to find Garroth someone with healing magicks for this to heal and quick. Where he would find someone with healing magicks willing to help them was another story. “There were so many of them, you would’ve been kil-“ his voice spun off into a low groan, tears slipping down his dirt-stained cheeks. Laurance tightened the cloth he ripped from the bottom of his jacket around the wound and pulled out some thin cloth bandages he had the foresight to shove into his pocket on the way out of their camp where Garroth had stayed.

“I’m sorry,” Laurance whispered. Garroth reached out to grab the side of Laurance’s face and pull him down so their foreheads were touching.

“You’re doing the best you can,” Garroth said. “You’re a good friend and a good guard, Laurance.” The ginger chuckled, his voice slightly hysterical as he pulled away and shoved bandages beneath the tightened cloth to try and staunch the bleeding.

“You’re being oddly sentimental, Gar,” Laurance commented as he tried to try the chainmail back to the shoulder plates. “You’re not allowed to be sentimental right now, we’ve gotta get you back to-” Garroth tightened his grip on his friend’s face, forcing Laurance to look him in the eye. The expression of sheer determination and acceptance scared Laurance. Garroth looked like a man who had seen his own death foretold before him and was ready for it.

Laurance wasn’t ready for Garroth to die.

“The wound is too great, Laurance, we both know that,” Garroth panted. “I’ll die of blood loss before we even make it to the city limits, with all the guards out there.” He adjusted his grip on Laurance’s face, straining to pull his other arm up to hold his friend’s face between both hands. “You will replace me as head guard, alright? You will-” Laurance tried to pull away but Garroth kept him there. “You will protect Lady Aphmau and you will love her in honor of me.” Laurance kept trying to shake his head, tears burning the corners of his eyes.

“You will not die, Garroth, not now,” Laurance said, his voice cracking. Garroth smiled sadly and his thumb chased over the swell of his friend’s cheek. “You can’t die, please.” The determination in Garroth’s eyes became cloudy and the grip on Laurance’s face faltered. The sound of marching came ‘round the corner and Garroth’s eyes fluttered shut, his breath stuttering and uneven.

“You there! You and Garroth Ro’maeve are under arrest for treason! Surrender immediately or face death!” a guard shouted from behind them.

The outskirts of Laurance’s vision pulsed with red, in time with the beating of Garroth’s slowing heart. The voice of the guard came closer and the sharp sound of a sword being pulled from its scabbard matched the shutting of his best friend’s eyes, for what might be the last time. Hot tears spilled down his cheeks, clouding his vision as the world all of a sudden became crystal clear. The red crept closer and closer, seeping into his eyes as time seemed to slow around him. His veins glowed scarlet as his brightened eyes cast an eerie shadow against his friend’s bloody face. He grabbed his sword from beside him and the world’s clock rushed to match his speed as he spun around on his knees just in time for the other guard’s sword to meet his own.

“You will pay.”

They almost hadn’t made it in time.

Laurance remembers running through the village gates, Dante right on his heel, demanding to know what had happened. He burst into the old farm house, shouting at everyone and anyone who was in hearing distance to get Kiki and a doctor. Dante and Brian had to drag him kicking and screaming away from Garroth’s body so that their friends could actually help Garroth.

It wasn’t his best moment, he’ll admit.

That had been three days ago. Kiki, while not versed in the practice of healing magicks, had a healing touch of her own and Garroth seemed to be pulling through. He refused to wake up though, meaning that for three days, Laurance had been sleeping on the floor of the old farm house, ears straining to hear the steady in-and-out of his friend’s breathing. Aphmau had come to visit, a stack of board games in her arms. He almost threw her out at the sight of the games, the thought that he came so close to never being able to teach Garroth how to play a child’s game making him sick to his stomach.

She seemed so less distraught over Garroth’s potential death than he was and for a split second, he wondered if she even cared about them, or if they were just pawns to her.

He shook his head, as if trying to physically remove the thoughts from his brain. She just hadn’t been there when the guards found them. She was removed from the situation; it didn’t mean she cared any less about Garroth.

Laurance had his back to the side of the bed, leaning against the wooden frame. There were blankets and pillows everywhere on his side of the room, evidence to his restless sleeping habits. He tried to keep it neat but felt it futile after they just kept getting thrown around during his nightmares. He picked up one of the closest fabrics, rubbing it gently between his fingers. “Garroth, you had better wake up soon,” he whispered, more to himself than to his unconscious friend. “I’m going stir-crazy here.”

“Good thing-” a raspy voice called out, before devolving into a coughing fit. Laurance twisted around from where he was sitting to find his friend propped up on one arm with the other lightly smacking his chest to try and get the cough out. Laurance scrambled to his feet and braced one knee on the mattress to gently grab Garroth underneath his arms to help him sit up further. “Good thing I’m awake now,” Garroth finished, panting slightly. Laurance didn’t say anything, his tongue heavy in his mouth.

He knew Garroth would wake up at one point. He fought so hard for his friend to stay alive; he wouldn’t just let him pass in his sleep. But it seemed so surreal to have Garroth talking to him, especially after having night terror after night terror of his friend’s blood on his hands. He kept Garroth propped up and slid in behind him, reaching down to unbuckle his boots before throwing his leg over the mattress. Without a word, he pulled Garroth so that his back met Laurance’s chest. Laurance waited a second for Garroth to protest, but the other man didn’t say anything, so he buried his face in his friend’s hair, wrapping his arms around his friend’s uninjured chest. Garroth reached up an arm to grab Laurance’s hands where they were clasped above his heart. “I’m alive, Laurance,” he whispered. “I haven’t gone anywhere.”

“But you did,” came the broken response. “You didn’t see how you looked in O’khasis. You knew you were going to die, you didn’t try to fight it or anything-” Laurance cut himself off with a dry sob. Garroth pressed his weight back against his friend.

“I’m here now,” Garroth stated resolutely. “You haven’t lost anyone. I’m right here.” He squeezed Laurance’s hand. “I promise you, I’m not going anywhere, because there’s this very annoying man that I know,” Laurance laughed wetly, shaking his head in Garroth’s curls, “he keeps making sure that I don’t die in some back-alley.”

“Someone’s gotta do it,” Laurance murmured. “Not like you have the best track record of taking care of yourself.” Garroth’s shoulders shook with a silent laugh before he hissed in pain, shoulders curling in. “Everything okay? Is it bleeding through?”

Garroth shook his head, though his breathing was heavy. He leaned his head back into the crook of Laurance’s neck. “It’s just your standard battle wound,” he said, sounding tired.

“You should rest some more,” Laurance murmured, but Garroth shook his head.

“I don’t want to leave you alone after just waking up.” Laurance felt his heart swell to the point of bursting and tears burned in the corners of his eyes.

“I’ll be okay, Gar, I’d be better if you actually took a break for once in your life.” Laurance unclasped his hands to reach one up to run through his friend’s greasy, limp hair. “You’ve gotta stop sacrificing yourself for others so much. I’m scared for you.” Garroth just exhaled a chuckle.

“But then I wouldn’t be…well, me,” Garroth whispered. “I’ve got to make up my mistakes somehow, Laurance.” Laurance shook his head, but didn’t say anything else.

“Sleep, Gar,” Laurance said, “you won’t be letting anyone down by doing so.”

“If you say so.”

After Garroth woke up the second time, Laurance had gone and fetched Kiki and the doctor and they pronounced Garroth alive and semi-healthy. The threat of infection was still prevalent, but they let Garroth return to the guard tower to continue healing. Kiki had pulled Laurance aside, making sure he knew to force Garroth to rest, otherwise the wound would never heal. Laurance only laughed, and promised to sit on the man if he had to.

Much like Laurance was while waiting Garroth to wake up, the head guard was restless. He kept trying to walk about the tower, resisting all attempts to actually sit down, saying that he had to get back to his duties as soon as possible. The times Laurance weren’t around, Brian and Dante told him about Dale picking Garroth up by the legs and almost tying Garroth to his bed just so that he would sleep.

They finally got that game room set up, courtesy of Lord Aphmau. Without being able to patrol, Garroth was constantly itching to do new things to occupy his mind and Laurance finally broke through his friend’s resolve against the supposedly wretched game night. That’s where they were now, Garroth propped up by what seemed like hundreds of pillows on Laurance’s right and Dante and Brian to his left. He held up a stack of cards, all in different colors.

“Okay!” he started, “Welcome, everyone, to the first game night.” Dante cheered and Brian snickered at Garroth’s playfully annoyed expression. “The Lady was kind enough to ask Logan to find some games for us to play and, since this night was my wonderful idea-” Garroth rolled his eyes, “I can see you being snarky over there, Mr. Head Guard, don’t think I won’t drag you back upstairs to your room.” Brian outright laughed at that. “Anyways!” Laurance continued, “we’re playing Uno. My sister and I would play this a lot.”

He explained the rules and dealt out the cards for a trial round. Almost immediately, Brian used his plus-two card on Laurance and Garroth and Dante had the gall to laugh. “Watch it, kid,” he warned, but Brian just shot him a sneaky smirk in return.

The game continued as everyone made sure to stack the odds against Laurance. Brian, Dante, and Garroth had this infuriating way of making hand signals to ensure that they stacked up at least three plus-two cards so that when Laurance’s turn came around, he would have to pick up even more cards. The final straw was drawn when Dante pulled out his final and remaining card, a wild plus-four, and dropped into the deck. The room was silent before Laurance lunged for Dante and the younger guard screeched. Brian choked on a gasp, laughing at the same time, while Garroth just shook his head with a smile. Dante and Laurance rolled over a few times, tussling against the cold stone floor, each one trying to pin the either. Laughter filled the room as Dante tickled his fingers against a patch on Laurance’s ribs. “Cheater!” Laurance shouted, laughter breaking up his words. “You’re a damned cheater, Dante!”

“You never said it was against the rules!”

“Oh, you – get over here, you Irene-damned menace-” Laurance barreled into Dante’s stomach, sweeping him up and over Laurance’s shoulder. Dante began kicking, slamming his fists into Laurance’s back, but the pair still stumbled through the balcony doors connected to the game room. Brian watched in unrestrained awe and glee, while Garroth’s shoulders shook with silent laughter. “Stop wiggling, you bastard child, I will dangle you over the parapet, watch me-”

“Put me down, I demand it! A guard of Phoenix Drop should never be put in such a compromising position,” Dante shrieked, his flailing legs getting dangerously close to kicking Laurance’s face.

“Oh, you want me to put you down, huh?” With a gleeful smile, Laurance quickly maneuvered the wiggling teen so that he was holding him up by the underarms and used momentum to toss his friend’s legs over the balcony wall.

“You maniac,” Dante screamed, grabbing at Laurance’s arms, “I’m gonna die, get back to the other side- Laurance, stop jiggling me, Irene, have mercy on my soul!” Booming laughter came through the balcony doors and Laurance turned his head to find Garroth practically on the floor, tears of joy streaming down his face. A wide, earnest smile unwittingly broke across Laurance’s face and his grip on Dante faltered. “Laurance, you’re dropping me!” Eyes wide, Laurance turned his face back to watch as Dante slipped from his grip. He shot forward, grabbing the guard by the shirt and yanking him over the edge of the parapet. They both stumbled back, falling onto the ground. They panted with exertion, broken by Laurance’s hysterical giggles. “Can’t believe you almost killed me, have you no shame?!”

“Oh, come on, Dante,” Garroth’s voice came through the doors, “you have to admit that that was at least the slightest bit humorous.” Dante shot to his feet, stalking back into the room

“You won’t be saying that when I dangle you over the edge of the tower-”

“Wait, no, Dante, I surrender-!” Laurance cackled as Dante picked up one of the pillows, smacking Garroth over the head.

“Go, Dante, beat his ass!” Brian cheered.

Laurance smiled as Garroth’s laughter and Dante’s shrieking and Brian’s cheering washed over him. His vision went cloudy for the first time in days and his grin felt like it was splitting his face.

It was a good day.

#garroth ro'meave #laurance zvahl #minecraft diaries #aphmau minecraft diaries #aphmau mcd #aphmau mystreet #aphmau dante #dante aphmau #implied major character death #tw alcohol mention #tw alcohol #tw blood #tw violence

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whatamidoingwithmylifeman · 4 years ago

Text

MK OC Randomness part 5

listen... at this point, what are you expecting from me? Actual work? No.. Never. Now enjoy the content.

Megumi: Squiggles you son of a bitch! How are you still alive? I saw you go over that cliff! No one could've survived that fall

Squiggles: *hisses*

Megumi: You sly bastard, I would've never thought of that.

Tremor: I I I'm sorry, can she actually speak snake, or is she just messing with us?

Ayeka: Knowing her, it could very well be both

------

Kano: I want half

Klaudia: I'm sorry, what?

Kano: I did half the work, so I want half the code.

Klaudia: This isn't some material I can cut in half, Kano. It's a bunch of 1s and 0s, it's not the simple.

Kano: Then I want the 1s.

Klaudia: Fuck you, I want the 1s!

------

Melantha: Well, you did just kill somebody. Shouldn't you at least feel something?

Nozomi: Oh feelings? Yeah, I don't have those anymore. Went cold turkey.

Melantha: What!?

------

Mr. Hasashi: Oh um, hello little girl. How did you get into our house?

Young Michiko: I I do not remember

Young Hanzo: Oh yeah! I'm sure that'll hold up with the Grandmaster!

------

Old LK GM: Look. Let's just cut right to the chase here Shen. What's it gonna take for you to say yes? Money, items, Michiko?

Michiko: Excuse me!?

Old LK GM: What? It's a compliment

Michiko: Wow, Grandmaster, I didn't think you knew any magic. But look at you, turning women into trophies.

------

Fuyuka: On an unrelated note, are you at all concerned about the delight your daughter seems to be taking in all this?

Little Illythia: Go for the eyes mama! That is their weak point!

Onaga: Not really. Why?

------

Charu: Just stay calm! You have everything you need to beat it.

Cacti: The power to believe in myself?

Charu: No, a knife! Stab it!

------

Sektor: What would you of told dad of I died!

Michiko: Hey father, I got some good news and some bad news.

Michiko: The good news is we finally got room for that operation room you wanted.~

------

Shariah: *gets stabbed* HRKK! *Through gritted teeth* This is the greatest day of my life.

Shao Kahn: Do you mind!? I am trying to kill you!

------

Shao Kahn: Enough! How dare you mock me in such a manor!

Nozomi: Well, how would you like me to mock you? I take requests.

------

Kronika: How did you know we were lying?

Fuyuka: Oh that's simple. I'm not an idiot.

Geras from the magma mold he's being held in: Yep, that'll do it.

------

Klaudia: Ok, sweetie, I'm gonna let you in a little known secret of comedy.

Klaudia: Bad things, aren't funny when they happen to mommy.

Little Ash: What about daddy?

Klaudia: Oh daddy's fair game. Go for the throat.

------

Ryder: Look. Do you wanna keep giving me shit? Or do you wanna figure a way out of here?

Red: Oh don't think I can't do both. I am quiet the multitasker!

------

Klaudia over the phone: Bust his kneecaps, then he'll talk. I gotta go, I'm in a meeting.

Klaudia: *hangs up the phone* So you said Ash was into finger painting? That's adorable.

------

Melantha: Nozomi wake up!

Nozomi: Five more minutes.

Melantha: You've been in a coma for two years!

Nozomi: Ok? Two more minutes.

------

Krow: Would you rather, kill Gae or-

Shinnok: Yes kill him!

Krow: I didn't say the other-

Shinnok: I don't need to hear it.

Gae: I'm feeling a little unsafe.

------

Kristy: It's like you're giving me the cold shoulder.

Kabal: Ok? You me to just heat it up for you?

------

Symphonia: Now you sing!

Someone random: HOW BOUT YOU SING? IT'S WHAT I PAYED YOU FOR!

Symphonia: *taking the microphone back* Alright tough crowd

------

Mavado: *Blows Kristy a kiss*

Kristy: *catches it then flushes it down the toilet*

------

Reiko: *Blows Nozomi a kiss*

Nozomi: *catches it then puts it in a blender*

------

Kamden: Drive!

Kristy: Why?

Kamden: I just robbed the bank! Drive!

Kristy: You what!?

Kamden: *holding up a pen* I took their pen from the front desk! Drive!

------

Reptile: Wanna go out?

Nyx: Oh sure! *starts leaving*

Reptile: Where are you going?

Nyx: Out! Farther away from you the better!

------

Some random dude to Satoru: Hey I like you. Let's go out sometime

Satoru, pulling out an adoption paper: Sign this for me will you?

Random dude: Uh. What is this?

Satoru: It's an adoption paper. I'm going to adopt you so you can never ask me that again

Random dude: You could've said no!

Satoru: *vaguely gesturing to his Ace ring and Aro hoodie* You could've read the signs!

------

Megumi: There's blood on your pants.

Terra: Don't call the cops alright?!

Megumi: Here's a tampon- wait what!?

Terra: Right! My period! I didn't kill anyone!

------

Tremor: What kind of spider is that?

Ayeka: I think it's a daddy long leg.

Tremor: Ok it's a good looking spider, but I wouldn't call it daddy.

Ayeka: Wait, what!?

------

Little Satoru: I have a gift for you Uncle Shi. *hands over a muffin*

Sektor: *smacks it away* I'm not stupid you piece of garbage!

Little Satoru: What?

Sektor: If you want me dead, let's fight right now!

@feistyfandomthings

@deepinthefog

@doodlewagonbug

@yuvononik

@yuvon

@toomanyf4ndoms7

@maddenedroses

@dontunderestimatemypoison

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mylovelies-docx · 4 years ago

Text

Kid Krow - Checkmate

Chapter 3!

I am also posting updates on my AO3 account if anyone prefers the other format!

Don’t forget to listen to the song here!

Chapter warnings: A little angsty, mentions of anxiety and medications.

Word count: 1.7k (a little shorter than the others)

*You let some things slip to Poe that you never meant to be said out loud.

You were trying to determine if having Zorii as your friend was better or worse in relation to Poe. On one hand, you loved her as if she were the sister you never had and knew that she was a decent person, if only a little morally ambiguous like the rest of you; on the other hand, you had no one to confide in about your feelings for Poe, since, you know, they were together and all.

Sure, you were friends with Zalos, Mille, and Arle, but they weren’t your friend friends. You weren’t close enough to them emotionally to spill your secrets. You all got along great, but you knew you would never be best friends with any of them.

You considered Kes Dameron a friend since he had known since you were young, but you could not go into the gritty details of your desire for Poe with him. Gross. He was the only father-figure you had ever known, so you weren’t going to ruin it by embarrassing yourself like that.

Poe...Poe had been your best - and only - friend for the last decade and a half until Zorii was added into the folds of your heart. You three got along great and used to do everything together. You still went out with them occasionally, but felt superfluous and a bit queasy watching them together. You would always enjoy their company, but when Poe started getting handsy and showering her with affections, you always made an excuse to run away.

You were getting quite good at running away.

______

“Hey, (Y/N)! Do you want to-”

“Nope, sorry! Zorii and I are havin’ a girls’ night.”

***

“Princess! Let’s go-”

“Can’t. I’m almost finished with this story!”

***

“Come see this musician with me-”

“Sorry, Poe. I need to scour the corrosion from the capacitors.”

***

“(Y/N), why don’t we-”

“I’m a little busy at the moment, Poe!”

***

“Princess, can we-”

“Look, Poe, I’m almost-”

“No, (Y/N)!” Poe exclaimed, stopping you as you were trying to run by him with a greased wrench in your hands.

You stopped to stare at him. You could only run away for so long until Poe caught up.

“You’ve been avoiding me for days now -- what gives? You didn’t even do this after-” Poe begins, but you cut him off before he could mention the incident.

“I know!” you interject, clutching the wrench tighter so that it wouldn’t slide through your fingers and land on your foot. Again. “I’ve just been a little busy lately. You know how badly this ship needs a tune up before our next run.”

It wasn’t exactly a lie, but you also didn’t need to replace and re-grease every cog and gear in the galley. But you needed something to do that wasn’t pining over Poe, and this was the next best thing to finding a random person in a cantina.

“Yeah, I know. But you have always made time for me...At least, you used to.” Poe looked wounded, his eyes downturned and mouth in a straight line. You hated to see that look on his face, but what else was there to do? It was getting harder and harder to keep your promise as time went by.

You took a deep breath and tried to think of the best way to explain yourself. You couldn’t exactly tell him that you were failing spectacularly, despite how hard you were trying. Every time you were around each other, it got harder to breathe knowing how he felt about you.

Or, rather, didn’t feel about you.

But you weren't going to burden him again with your feelings, so you had to find an excuse that sounded half-way believable.

“I’ll always make time for you, Poe. I just… haven’t been feelin’ like myself these last few days.”

Which wasn’t a lie. Your mind had been a scrambling mess; unable to focus on anything for longer than a few moments sometimes, and then at others, so hyper focused that you couldn’t think of anything else. You had stopped taking your SSRIs a few days ago, and you were spiralling.

“Do you need help? What can I do?” Poe pried the wrench from your hands and placed it out of the way. He grabbed your upper arms and started massaging your tight muscles. He had done it so many times before that he knew just where to knead.

“Hmm…” you hummed in content and leaned your head onto his warm chest. “This is perfect, Poe,” you whimpered into him.

“Did you stop taking your meds again?” came his quiet voice.

You didn’t respond. That gave him the answer he needed.

“Sweetheart…” he chastised softly.

“I know. I just thought I’d try it again to see if I was gettin’ better,” you admitted. You had been feeling… not great, but alright lately, so you wanted to see if you could manage your anxiety on your own without the meds or Poe. You should have known that the middle of a crisis was not the time to stop cold.

“Come on,” Poe said, pulling away from you and grabbing your hands, “we’re going to bed. I know you don’t sleep when you’re like this.”

He was right that you hadn’t been sleeping, and you were absolutely exhausted now that he mentioned it. He tugged you along and you followed obediently, anticipating the warmth of Poe lying next to you for the first time since… that night.

You got to your quarters before remembering that you were covered in grease and sweat.

“Poe, I need to wash off,” you whined, turning around and trying to walk back into the hall towards the ‘fresher, regardless of how badly you wanted to lie down. Ever since Leena Issard’s comment all those years ago, you took every opportunity there was to get under water and wash yourself free of the smell you were convinced still clung to you.

Poe wouldn’t allow it, your entwined hands jerking you back into him. He had found your stash of sleep aids and placed one in your mouth, forcing you to dry swallow since you didn’t have a drink in your room.

“Not now, princess. You need to lie down,” Poe coaxed. He placed himself underneath the mountain of blankets on your cot, spreading out on his back and leaving a space for you to cuddle up with him. You sank down gratefully, your face in his neck and his strong arms around you, holding you close.

Maker, how you had missed this; missed this closeness and intimacy with Poe. You both had been spending so much time with other people -- he with Zorii, and you with anybody that wasn’t Poe -- that you had forgotten what it felt like to be in his arms.

Your breaths started to slow and your sore muscles were relaxing after days of tension. The excess adrenaline in your system was fading, replaced by the meds and dopamine that Poe was so good at making your brain produce.

“That’s it,” he cooed, running one hand over your head and smoothing down your frazzled hair.

You both stayed like that for quite a while. You felt peaceful, warmth suffusing from the top of your head and down to the tips of your toes. Being with Poe like this always made you feel good and was one of the main reasons you had fallen so hard for him.

“You know you could have come to me,” Poe whispered, one hand still in your hair and the other rubbing soothingly along your back.

You were in the hazy state between wakefulness and sleep where nothing was real, causing your mouth to open before your brain could realize what was about to come out.

“You did some damage, so I’m makin’ you pay,” you muttered into his chest, so close to falling asleep that consequences didn’t exist.

You felt him stiffen beneath your fingers, which were fisted tightly in his shirt. The action didn’t register fully in your mind, causing you to be unaware of just how badly you had messed up.

“What?”

“I’ve gotten tired of the games that you play. When you tell me you love me then you throw me away. It hurts. And I thought the others could help me forget you, but there’s no forgettin’ you, Poe.”

“(Y/N)...” Poe started to move out from underneath you, but you held on fast, refusing to let him put distance between you. “(Y/N), what are you saying? You know I wouldn’t do that.”

“You might not realize it, but I do. I do…” Your eyes were closed and it didn’t feel like you were present in your own body. It just felt so good to be like this with Poe.

Why didn’t he feel the same way?

“I’ve never said I loved you, (Y/N),” Poe whispered, desperate to understand what your clouded mind was trying to say.

“Nooo,” you slurred, “you’ve never said it verbally, but you’ve shown me. Like when we’re around the fires? And you’re holdin’ me? I feel it then.” You were grinning into him upon recalling those nights, unaware that he was watching you with something like horror coming over his face.

“Princess, I don’t know what to say,” Poe cried out softly. “I wouldn’t have done that if I had known.”

“Princess,” you echoed him, the rest of his statement lost to the circulated air of your quarters, “that’s another way you tell me you love me.”

“Maker, (Y/N), why didn’t you ever tell me?” Poe was barely breathing under you. He felt so trapped and was desperate to get away.

“Because I just wanted to pretend you loved me, too.”

Your hands had gone lax against his chest and your head lolled to the side. Poe took this opportunity to slide off of the cot and start pacing the room. You cried softly out to him, making pathetically weak grasping motions in his direction, but he didn’t return to you.

“I’m sorry, (Y/N),” he begged off, his hands fisting in his hair so hard he was liable to pull out chunks.

He paced the length of your room once more and hurried to the door, not even pausing to look back at you.

In the time it had taken for him to stand up and make his way out, you had fallen asleep, memories of this conversation already forgotten.

#poe dameron x reader #poe dameron #poe x reader #poe dameron/reader #poe dameron x you #star wars #star wars fan fiction #sequel trilogy #poe dameron x female reader #poe dameron x y/n #Kid Krow (A Poe Dameron Story)

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jadedjxsung · 5 years ago

Text

‘heather’ - h.h.j

i am sad and am listening to conan gray’s new album kid krow - this is inspired by ‘heather’ from that album. listen to it. it’s sad and i cry a little bit every time because i kinda relate to it too with my actual friends... anyway. this is kinda like me fictionally venting about it but through fanfic so i hope you enjoy this angst.

genre: angst, angst, angst. highschool au.

tw/cw: swearing, alcohol (kinda underage drinking? tbh i’m assuming they’re all above 18 so idk guess it depends on the laws where you live, where i am it’s 18)

pairing: hyunjin x reader i guess? kinda but also not really. you’ll see what i mean when you read the story.

just over 3k words

it was the third of december, a sunday, approximately 4pm. you and your best friend (whom you were definitely, absolutely not in love with) were hanging out at his house, having spent most of the day watching movies in the pillow fort you had made in his living room. your phone buzzed beside you, under the soft mink blanket.

“i gotta head home now.” you sat up, stretching, looking down at him.

he was pouting. (god it just made him more adorable-) “come on, five more minutes?”

“i can’t jinnie, my grandparents from out of town are visiting and mum wants me there to see them.” he sighed.

“argh, fine.” you both crawled out of the fort, and you reached the front door. opening it, a cold wind blew in. you were in a somewhat thin t-shirt. “take my sweater.” before you could even attempt to protest, he’d whipped the black sweater off and threw it at you. it landed over your head. you pulled it over your body, instantly swamped in the soft material. (it smelled just like him too, you tried to ignore the way it made your heart race.)

“thanks.”

“you’re welcome. it looks better on you.” he grinned. you hugged briefly, and then began the walk home, head spinning as you tried to remember to breathe. after the dinner with your grandparents, you sat in your room, in his sweater, inhaling the scent and playing with the sweater paws. you fell asleep with a soft smile on your face.

it was the end of the winter holidays, spring rapidly approaching. school was back, and you and hyunjin were sitting in the cafeteria during lunch with your friends. it was loud, the mass of teenagers chatting loudly. you were listening to felix as he was talking about what had happened in drama, recreating the scene with jisung. you glanced at hyunjin, soft smile on his pretty face. it disappeared as he began staring, a look you’d never seen on his face before. you followed his gaze, hitching your breath at who he was (now very obviously) staring at. he was completely mesmerized.

of course it was a girl. admittedly a very beautiful one, clearly a new student. imagine, the definition of the soft girl aesthetic - perfect, slightly curled brown hair, oversized pale pink knitted sweater, half-tucked into light blue mom jeans rolled up at the ankle, white adidas finishing the look. round frame glasses, and the perfect smattering of freckles over her nose and cheekbones.

perfect, perfect, perfect.

picture perfect.

as she walked past your table, you glanced at hyunjin. he was, as felix would say, ‘absolutely whipped’ - heart eyes, mouth slightly agape, relaxed facial expression.

you quickly exhaled. “shut your mouth before you start drooling.” you snapped.

he jolted out of his daydream at your sudden sharp tone. “shit, was i staring?”

“you’re whipped, bro.”

“she’s sitting alone, i’ll go talk to her.” he got up quickly, moving away from your table. you observed his body language - you could imagine him giving her that charming smile, while it wasn’t as pretty has the one where his eyes crinkle up, it was still infectious and entrancing at the same time.

“sorry, y/n.” jisung murmured in your ear. though he was smiling, his eyes said otherwise. he knew how you felt about your mutual friend and was always sympathetic towards you.

“we’ll see how long this one lasts, i guess.” you shrugged. something was different about this one, you could tell. it used to be more puppy love, but this looked more like real, romantic love. and it kind of scared you a little bit.

“i’m gonna go to the library.” you got up, bag slung over one shoulder, putting on a podcast (welcome to night vale, a long time favourite of yours) as you sat down. you pulled out your english book and a sharpie, idly doodling patterns and writing down quotes as you hear them. you had a free period after lunch, so you stayed there until the end of the day, the covers of your english, history, calculus, physics, chemistry, and music book covers were completely covered in drawings, and you had little sharpie smudges all along your hands and arms.

things had been getting better for hyunjin (and worse for you) - he shared a few classes with the girl he learned was from england, called heather. and she was all he talked about - until she began sitting with your group during breaks.

“hey, y/n, i know you missed english yesterday so i copied my notes for you.” she smiled, passing you a few pages of paper as everyone met at your table. even her writing was neat and tidy, everything laid out nicely. your notes were exactly the opposite of this, being an incomprehensible mess. jisung had already given you his notes, so you folded them and shoved them into your bag. more ashes for the fireplace, you supposed.

“thanks.” you forced a smile. “much appreciated.”

“no problem!” god, her smile was perfect too. perfect teeth. it made you seethe on the inside. and, she’d taken your usual spot at the edge of the table, across from hyunjin; now you sat sandwiched between jisung and felix. while their antics still made you laugh, it was getting harder to pretend to smile at hyunjin and heather. picture perfect heather. she was everything you were not - twice as pretty as you, and kind too. it just made you more bitter.

you sighed, relieved when the bell rang to indicate the end of lunch - and you were the fastest to leave, too. music went by faster than usual, as you were practicing for your solo pieces. as you were leaving, you saw hyunjin walking by himself.

this was a rare opportunity, and so you seized it.

“hey, jinnie. movie night at mine?”

he shook his head. “sorry y/n, i’m busy. heather and i are gonna be going to...” as soon as he shook his head you sighed, regretting asking. you didn’t bother to listen to his short spiel.

“that’s okay.”

“what about next wednesday? we can hang out at mine?”

“yeah, sure!” it was the first thing that had you looking forward to being around hyunjin in a while.

the next day, you didn’t see hyunjin or heather until lunch. you nearly turned on your heel and walked out.

heather was wearing one of hyunjin’s sweaters - of course it wasn’t just any old sweater either. one of his favourites, a bright yellow one that you had bought for him about a year ago. of course he would give her that one. fucking typical.

you breathed in and out a few times to try and calm yourself down. at least it’s polyester, right? not like the woolen one he gave you.

your breathing didn’t really work - you sat down, (accidentally) slamming your drink bottle on the table.

“you good?” jisung asked gently. you shook your head slightly. “do you want to go outside?”

“please.” you both got up, exiting the cafeteria with your bags. it was cool outside, and overcast. you both walked across the field, sitting at a picnic table.

“what’s happened?”

“she’s wearing the sweater i bought for him, like, a year ago.”

his expression softened. “oh...”

“yeah. god- i just- i...” you buried your face in your cold hands. silently, jisung hugged you as you began to cry.

“i can try talking to him if you want.”

“i-it’s okay, there’s probably no point.”

“you never know, i’ll ask him about the sweater for you.”

“much appreciated.” you sighed. you two stayed in that position for some time. he looked up, behind you, seeing felix approaching.

“felix is coming over, is that cool?”

“yeah, yeah.”

“hey, uhh, i wanted to see if y/n was okay.” he sat down at the table, across from you both.

“i’m not, but thanks for showing concern, lix.”

“can i ask why?”

you sighed. “long story short, i have liked hyunjin for years and he’s basically in love with heather and she’s currently wearing the sweater i bought him a year ago.”

“yikes.”

“mhm...” you sat slumped for several minutes. for the rest of lunch, jisung and felix sat with you. while they still cracked jokes here and there, it was strange for them to be as quiet as they were.

you felt a little better now that felix and jisung both made the extra effort to try and cheer you up. hangout sessions with them both were quite common - though today it was wednesday and you were looking forward to hanging out with hyunjin. just you two. no perfect heathers to distract your best friend.

waiting outside the main building for him, you saw him and walked over. “oh, hey y/n!” he smiled at you. the eye crunch one. your heart instantly a puddle on the ground.

“hey, hyunjin.” you began walking to his place, and it was just like old times - plenty of teasing and hyunjin being overdramatic while you rolled your eyes at his antics. all was well and you felt the happiest you’d been in some time.

all was well.

two minutes past seven, you and hyunjin were in his room, doing your own thing, occasionally showing each other memes or tiktoks. a knock on the door caused you to flinch slightly. of course, being his bestfriend of several years meant that you had been interrupted by both of his parents knocking on the door numerous times; this was an unfamiliar knock.

and who comes into the room, but perfect heather. with her perfect smile, perfect hair, perfect handwriting, perfect everything.

“oh, hi y/n! sorry to interrupt, i’m happy to leave-”

“it’s fine, see-”

“no, no, no, you can stay if you’d like.” hyunjin beamed.

“are you sure? i wouldn’t want to impose.”

“it’s fine.” you got up, walking towards the door, glaring at hyunjin. “i was just about to leave.” as the weight of your schoolbag met your shoulder, you shut the door. firmly. god, how you wanted to hit him sometimes.

a week and a few days later, and here you are at 1am on a saturday morning, dissociating at a party, hosted by jisung’s friend chan. you’re sitting on an armchair in the corner, with chan’s dog sitting by your feet, head on your lap while you gently patted it and scratched behind it’s ears. it was loud, and not your scene, and you hate it, but someone had to look out for slightly intoxicated jisung and felix and you didn’t like the idea of them doing something stupid (which was a very likely thing to occur if you weren’t there to supervise them).

your charges are sitting on a couch with changbin, not too far from where you were, only two or so metres away. on another couch, hyunjin and perfect heather, as well as minho and another dude they were friends with that you recognised from class but didn’t know the name of. (jeongoon? no, jeongin.)

you shift your gaze from jeongin (jeongoon??) to hyunjin and heather. he has one arm around her shoulder. almost like phantom pain, you shiver, suddenly feeling cold. he used to do that with you. emphasis on used to.

you sit, patting chan’s dog (whose eyes are drooping, you feel exactly the same), wallowing in your bitterness. it makes you sad. in any other circumstance, you’d probably be good friends with her. she’s the definition of an angel, yet something about her makes you tick. she’s such an angel but you dislike her. immensely. not hate. it was a shame, really.

it is also a shame that with the blue and red lighting, it falls perfectly on hyunjin’s features, making him seem more ethereal. oh, how you wish you were in heather’s position. if you were in her place, you would’ve kissed him, right there. (after years of nearly doing it but stopping at the last second before he noticed and anything happened.) he’s three metres away from you, but you can picture his face close-up. he’d look so much better up close. how you wish you were heather.

gently lifting the dog’s head from your lap (quietly apologising to it too), you stand in front of jisung and felix.

“i’m leaving. don’t die. text me when you get home.”

jisung pouts. “aww, do you have to leave?”

“i’m not really having fun, there’s no point in me being here.” jisung stood up quickly, clinging to your shoulder as he sways slightly.

“i’ll walk you home, it’s dangerous out there, y/n. big scary spiders and shit.” his eyes are glassy and wide.

“no. no, you stay here, ji, have fun. i’ll be fine.” you force a smile for the boy clinging to you, not unlike a koala.

“but what if like- a huge fuckin’ spider eats you?! what would i do without my y/n?”

you chuckle at his antics. “you’re probably more likely to get me eaten by a big spider than to protect me from one, you idiot.”

a new voice caused you to tense up a little bit. “i’ll walk them home, you stay here jisung.”

the dark haired boy loosens his grip. “okay, if hyunjin’s walking you home that’s fine. but you should definitely not tell him anything y/n.” he sat back down again, almost like nothing had happened. hyunjin follows you out of chan’s place, nearly losing you a few times as you quickly picked your way through the crowd.

you stand on the footpath outside as he approaches you. silently, you walk together for about five minutes, both lost in your own thoughts.

“i feel like we hardly talk anymore, y/n.”

you huff, shoving your hands further into your jacket pockets. “i wonder why.”

“well, why?” he ignores your sarcasm.

“heather.”

“what about her?”

your feet stop. you exhale sharply. this had been going on for long enough, and internally apologise to jisung for doing the exact opposite of what he told you to do.

“you want to know? fine, i’ll tell you. i have been in love with you for years but have been too afraid to say it, when you had these little crushes on others and always having these short little flings with them but it didn’t matter because you always came back to me. then perfect heather turns up and you very obviously fall in love with her which is fair enough, and i feel horrible because she’s so perfect and lovely but i can’t help but despise her because she’s the one you love, not me. and it breaks my heart because you’re both so nice and she doesn’t deserve me being an asshole to her like this but i can’t help it, her perfection just irritates me in ways that i can’t describe.

it’s like you replaced me, but with the perfect girl that you fell in love with while i sit in the corner, upset and bitter, because i am ultimately a coward who doesn’t know how to confess to their best friend. also, you gave her the sweater i bought you, the yellow one, but clearly don’t remember that because i’m just not that important to you anymore. everything is heather, heather, heather, with you and regardless of the romantic feelings, i miss you and want to know what happened to my best friend.”

your heavy breathing after your rant filled the silence.

“y/n i...”

“look, you don’t have to respond. i just needed you to hear that. i’m tired of trying to hide how i feel.” you turn on you heel and began walking quickly - your house was only a block away. curse hyunjin and his long legs.

“look, i’m sorry, y/n. i am so sorry that you feel like that. i’m sorry that i became so focused on one person. i’m sorry i can’t return your feelings, but i still love you as a friend. can we still be friends?”

you stop again, keeping your gaze towards the ground. “i don’t know if i can ever see you as just a friend.”

“so... no?”

you breathe in. “no, hyunjin. we can’t be friends.” you look up at him. you’d never seen him look this broken, this tormented, and it was because of you. you hold your arms out, and he falls into your embrace. you can tell by the way he’s breathing and the quiet sniffles that he’s crying on your shoulder.

it is the 3rd of march, a saturday at approximately 2am. you and your former best friend (who you are very much in love with) are embracing for the last time in the middle of the street, almost but not quite outside your house. your phone buzzes in your jacket pocket, repeatedly.

“you better pick that up.” hyunjin said softly, pulling away from you, forcing a smile. it makes your heart twinge at the sight. nothing like the radiant ones you are used to, that you might never get to see up close again.

you sigh when you saw the caller id, answering anyway. “jisung, what?”

“you should be home by now y/n. are you safe? did you tell hyunjin anything? i hope he protected you from big spiders and shit.” he was slurring his words a little bit - clearly he’d had a bit more to drink since you’d left.

“i’m almost home, ji. he protected me from all the spiders.”

“okay well, that’s good. i’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“yep. stay safe.” you hang up and sigh, looking back at hyunjin. “look after him and felix for me, please.”

“i will.”

“thank you, hyunjin. you’re a wonderful person.” you begin to walk down the street, looking back when you reach your front door. you glance back, and see his dark figure, slowly walking down the street. you slip in your house quietly, and manage to hold your tears in until you reach your room. you sit on your bed, in his sweater, crying into the sweater paws. eventually, sleep takes over your body, your face sticky with tears.

#stray kids imagines #stray kids angst #hwang hyunjin #stray kids scenarios #hyunjin #skz hyunjin #skz #stray kids crack

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tigerlilyhasablog · 5 years ago

Photo

Life During the Apocalypse

Hello darlings! Hope everyone is doing well… Hope you all are safe, healthy and not going too crazy if you are in self isolation. Since I’m stuck in the house with quite a bit of extra time, I’d like to try to blog a bit more than usual. I thought it would be kind of fun to share with you what I have been up to at home, so enjoy: The Day in the Life of a Quarantined Teen.🙃

Remote school

First for the dull stuff. My university moved to remote learning the week of March 6th, and while they originally said it would be “until further notice”, they have since announced that it will be like this for the rest of the semester. It’s definitely more boring than going to class, and I miss going to school and seeing people, but I don’t mind it that much. It’s kinda funny, ’cause I was homeschooled for most of my life, up until college, so doing this is like going back to the old days of being homeschooled. 🙂 Right now I’m actually on Spring Break, so this week I’m mainly just chillin’.

What I’ve been watching

I’ve been meaning to get Disney+ for eons now, but never got around to it. My sister and I decided that hey, what better time than now? The very first thing that we watched was High School Musical… Don’t judge me.😂 Somehow I had gone through life never having watched this iconic piece of pop culture, but I decided it was time to amend that. What can I say: it is equal amounts completely terrible and utterly amazing.

Finally watched The Mandalorian as well, which is really, genuinely good. I feel so-so about most Star Wars stuff – I don’t dislike it, but I don’t love it – but damn, I got into this show immediately. The way that they’ve made it like a Western? So good. The characters, the visuals, the storyline… 👌🏻 And yes, I would die for Baby Yoda.

Once we finished that season, we began on Agent Carter, and we just finished the first season last night. I felt so-so about it for like, the first two episodes, but after that I got really into it and like, damn, it’s really good! Two thumbs up from me.

Other than Disney, the only other thing that I’ve watched recently is The Miseducation of Cameron Post. It’s been on my want-to-watch list for a while now, and the other day my school gave me access to a site with a bunch of free films on it, one of which was this movie, which I was really excited about. Fuck, it was good. Really hit hard, Chloe Grace Moretz was incredible, as was the rest of the cast, just a really powerful story of course. I liked the indie feel of the whole thing… Sometimes you can just tell, you know? The 90s aesthetic was also great.

What I’ve been listening to

Being stuck in the house has giving me lots of opportunity to listen to music basically all of the time, so let me share some of the stuff I have been loving right now:

Conan Gray’s Kid Krow – I am really loving this album. It is packed with bops, as well as some fantastic sad-boi songs. I’ve liked Conan’s stuff for a bit now, but in a rather passive way… Now I would say that my fan-ness (not a word, I know) has been solidified.

Ed Sheeran – let me introduce you to the little underground indie artist I’ve recently discovered. Haha. It’s kinda funny that I’ve gotten so into Ed lately, cuz I mean, of course I’ve listened to his stuff for a while now. But like, I guess I’ve never delved very deep into his discography? But lately I’ve been listening to the entirety of each of his albums, and I’m a little obsessed. Guess I should have believed the hype sooner, huh?

Alec Benjamin – someone else who I’ve been into for quite a while, but who I’ve been listening to even more lately. His songs have made their way onto “Music of the Month” a couple times already, and I’ll tell you right now that he’s on there this month, too. 🙂 I don’t think he has a single bad song. I have tickets to see him in May, provided corona doesn’t fuck that up, and I’m really excited!

Lauv’s Modern Loneliness – bops. bops. bops. What else can I say? Bops.

Foster the People – ok, this band has such nostalgia for me. Torches was like, all that I listened to in like 2012/13. I hadn’t really listened to them lately, and hadn’t really explored their more recent stuff. But the other day I put on their Spotify playlist and had a dance party to them all afternoon and it made me so fucking happy.

What else I’ve been up to

Spending way too much time on the internet – gotta go ahead and get this one out of the way. I’d love to say that I’ve been super productive and learned a ton of new things and been really creative, but if I’m entirely honest, what I’ve really done is wasted a ton of time on YouTube/Tumblr/TikTok.😬

Drawing – I have gotten some stuff done though! I haven’t used this time for art as much as I’d like, but I’ve been sketching some, and also been playing around with a drawing app… I’ve always been a pencil-and-paper person, but doing it digitally is kinda fun!

My latest project? A vine compilation, of course.😂 Here is the beginnings of it:

Making music – again, not as much as I should be, but I’ve been playing the guitar and singing quite a bit. I’ve been doing it in a very relaxed, just-singing-what-i-want-to kind of way, which is nice. I guess I’ll use this opportunity to plug my Soundcloud (which I rarely post on, oops.)

Working out – I always exercise pretty regularly, but I’ve decided that this is the perfect opportunity to ramp it up a bit. My family and I have been going on walks every day, since that’s the only way we can get out, and I’ve been doing the Chloe Ting 2 Week Shred Challenge. It’s fucking tough, but I’m very excited about getting in shape.

Texting for the Bernie Sanders team – this has been fun! It’s a super-easy way to get involved in a campaign… I’d love to say I could make calls, and I hope to eventually, but it makes me really nervous. But texting is something anyone can do! Basically all campaigns have moved online, so if you have some extra time on your hands, get involved from home, either in a political campaign or something on the activism side of things! You can text, call, do stuff with social media… do it!

Catching up with friends – this one is smaller in terms of how much I’ve been doing it, but I’d just like to remind you that this is a great time to text or call someone you haven’t spoken to in a while. I know I often feel weird about just contacting someone out of the blue, but in a strange time such as this I think it is the perfect opportunity to check in with someone and see how they are holding up. Even though we can’t see each other in person, we’ve got to stick together in this tough time and keep up our relationships in a long-distance fashion.

Final thoughts

Okay, that’s all for now! It’s looking like this whole situation is gonna last for a while, so maybe I’ll make another one of these in a few weeks and let you know what else I’ve been up to! I’d just like to end with a little thought: if you are stuck at home and bored and going a little stir-crazy, please remember that we are privileged to be in this situation. There are some people for whom this means that they are out of work, desperate, scared. There are others who are older or immunocompromised who know that getting the virus could be a matter of life or death. Others are not able to work from home and have no choice but to go out every day and risk getting infected. And others have been forced to go home and be quarantined with abusive family members. Even though this is tough for everyone, if your main problem is that you are bored, make sure you put it into perspective and be grateful that that is your biggest worry.

I hope that didn’t sound preachy, but I just think we have to remember that it could be a lot worse. Now, stay safe, stay healthy, and for fuck sake, don’t go out unless you have to. ❤️

#personal #blogging #self isolation #coronavirus #quarantine #my life #disney #the mandalorian #agent carter #high school musical #conan gray #ed sheeran #alec benjamin #lauv #foster the people #bernie #bernie2020 #bernie sanders

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encyclopika · 5 years ago

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8, 9, 13, 19 please and thank you! 😊

Yay! Thanks so much, Cookie!

From this writer’s ask!

> I have 2 WIPs going on right now: Krow’s backstory, Missing Out and my unpublished KiriBaku demon/angel AU for their week this month, Fire and Brimstone. I’ll be using these to answer these questions. :3

8. When creating the characters for your WIP, what came first to you?

So, you and I have spoken about this, but when it comes to creating characters, I am just a conduit for characters to speak through lol. And I know you get me. They come to me mostly intact. I don’t usually feel like I “build” characters - they simply tell me about themselves as needed. OCs do this in 3 different ways:

Some of them are very forthcoming about who they are and what they’re like, they’re story, etc. Ai Nagai was like this. She was so like this, that she revealed things about OTHER characters, particularly Asuka/Krow. The villain for Escape Artists is also like this, so is Irina, and Youta/Flashlight would have done this, too, if I had been paying attention enough.

Some of them flip me off and I have to pull teeth to get them to tell me what their deal is. This was Krow. Holy fuck, this was Krow. I had to figure out his quirk by watching what he was doing and I didn’t get his backstory with Ai until she appeared to tell me herself. He talks now so I can write Missing Out, but you know sometimes he just stops talking all together for no good reason. Desiree is also like this. WEEKS it took me to just figure out she wore a mask because she was blind. It’s like they ignore me.

Some come in backwards - their existence is felt in the story and I have to work backwards in explaining their place and then who they are once they finally show themselves. This was Pyromancer. There’s also two more bird characters in Escape Artists who are like this.

As for Fire and Brimstone…AU characters are usually established in their “class” first and then I can build from there depending upon the world I put them in. I saw the prompt Angel/Demon for KiriBaku week and my brain was like “OMG wouldn’t it be ironic if Bakugo was the angel???” and thus, here we are. And I love “forbidden love” stories, so of course that meant Kirishima had to be the demon and the world they live in thinks them blasphemous. Cuz why not? We’re all here for angst, right?

9. Who is your favourite character to write?

Always my bird son, Krow. Little stress reliever, he is. Unless, of course, he stops talking and I *slams table* CAN’T WRITE…h

For F&B, I want to say Bakugo, but I haven’t really written from his perspective just yet. Kirishima, surprisingly, is really easy for me. I love his positive but realistic attitude, and it really works for this first chapter. So yeah - love writing as Kirishima!

13. Are there scenes that you cut already?

I haven’t cut anything that I can remember for Missing Out…in fact, all I’ve done is add scenes, lol.

For F&B, yeah, I’ve had to cut a bunch so that the story makes more sense. The big one was my first scene, which I’m a little upset about. The scene included Kirishima already crushing on Bakugo from afar before they even meet, but it ended up not working right for what I needed to explain in the first chapter. Plus, I really wanted the romance to build from a mutual understanding, like it is in the anime. So, that had to be scraped. Maybe I’ll rework it into a chapter down the line.

I usually don’t cut scenes. I think I can count on my fingers the number of scenes I’ve cut from all my fanfiction on AO3.

19. Do you know how your story ends before you start writing?

Hmmm…this is a tricky question. Yes and no. Yes, in that I know what the climax is and the results of said climax. I usually can’t start writing unless I know what I’m building up to. But then there’s also this part of the end of the story I like to call “the closer”. These are the dead last finishing remarks, and I typically don’t know this going in. Which is fine.

I still don’t know what the end of F&B looks like. I mean, I know what the climax looks like, but the results of it? What actually happens in that climax? Yeah, I got nothing. But for a fantasy AU, that’s really okay since the first chapter’s for world-building and character intros anyway.

As for Missing Out, h…we all know how that ends…but the closer hadn’t been sorted out until recently. I now know that the best place to end it is exactly where we started - in the present. WHERE is what’s going to be important and a secret. :)

#writing #writers ask games #THANK YOUUUUU #encyclopika talk

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wcoloo · 6 years ago

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uhh some clarification that’s apparently needed

so a friend brought to my attention the discussion of my snail customs on the salt blog and i just want to clear things up; none of this, from my perspective at least, was done to hurt pearl.

yes, we fell out recently, because she’s done some things that upset me. i didn’t turn on her unprovoked, she’s done things that have hurt me and my friends and i don’t wish to interact with her anymore. yes, i was too harsh to her perhaps, it was poor judgement on my behalf to message her telling her i was done being her friend when i did because i was not in a good place, and i will fully admit i fucked up there. i make mistakes a lot, i lash out at people who don’t fully deserve it a lot, but it was not unprovoked. however, i do take full responsibility that i let my temper get the better of me. i’m spectacularly good at that and it’s something i’m working really hard to fix; my anger issues and my anxiety causing me to lash out is the main reason i’ve been seeing a counsellor for the last three years, i’m aware of the issue and actively working to fix it.

however, me getting snellie and making gary and larry had absolutely nothing to do with this. i’ve always loved snellie, i’ve loved her since cat made her, and i didn’t even think that it would look bad on me if i got hold of her shortly after cutting pearl off. i jokingly said i’d buy her, because i would have if i’d had the money to, and cat decided to gift her to me. they decided to gift me the statues to make gary and larry later that night because i posted my design for gary and she thought he was cute, and then we remembered the old mate design i’d made for snellie since i liked her so much and felt bad for him so decided to make him too. this is hardly the first time cat’s given me things; they’ve given me a custom before and done a ton of gift art for me, because we’re friends. i’ve given her statues + art before too. cat is a wonderfully generous person who has done a ton of kind things for me and our other friends, this absolutely is not the first time or out of character for them.

the snail joking came from a joke krow made after i made my snails about shane looking similar to them with the colours + the classic tabby, and spiralled out of control since then. as far as i know it was all supposed to be genuine harmless fun ;; i never meant to hurt anyone, and i’m truly sorry that it came across that way. i’m not always the best person, i’ve made mistakes and hurt people i care about in the past and i fully own up to this, because i know i’m not perfect. but i genuinely did not mean any harm by these customs. obviously i can’t speak for my friends, i don’t know what their intentions were with joining in on the fun but i trust these people to not have joined in on what was supposed to be a harmless joke with malicious intentions. i never wanted drama, i’m an incredibly anxious person who can’t stand drama and generally goes out of my way to avoid it. i would never do something of this magnitude to intentionally cause drama, or anything at all to cause it. i just wanted to make some dumb customs, and didn’t think anyone would take issue with it considering i’ve made many character based customs based on characters that other people have made customs of in the past.

if you still don’t believe me please just block me and leave me be. i’m just trying to enjoy my pixel cats, i don’t want drama.

#mweor

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looselucy · 7 years ago

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Vitae & Mortem

Dystopian AU - Read the previous chapters

Part Seven

4:39PM I stared with wonder in my eyes to the graffiti on the wall ahead of us, Marby’s eyes painted so blue it almost felt as though I’d never truly noted the colour and its beauty before that moment. They’d painted crimson flowers that cupped and circled around her delicate face, blended perfectly with her bright blonde hair. “We never said thank you.” Harry spoke quietly, tracing the tips of his fingers across the new mural, some of the paint so fresh that it stained his skin. “We need to tell him we’re thankful.”

It must have been weeks since that first image of Marby appeared in Leicester Square, and slowly but surely more and more images announced themselves across the city, and then suddenly there were paintings and makeshift posters that people lay flowers beside cropping up on every single corner. You couldn’t walk for five minutes without seeing her face. The people of London were finally angry, and they wanted answers, and they had received none. It felt amazing, to see that progress slowly but surely being made, but at the same time it hurt. Because all they were asking was some proof of her being alive. If the Krows were as innocent as they suggested, they would have found her and shown everyone that she was alive and well and that they were helping her. But they hadn’t. They had nothing to show. They had killed her. It was the only explanation, and it was my worst fears finally being realised. “Maybe we should go and see him.” I said, unable to take my eyes off the blue of hers. “I mean… he can’t really find us, so we have to find him.” “We should.” Harry agreed with me, which was a rare thing. “We should just say… we know he’s done everything he can, and that… he’s taken a risk. We need to acknowledge that.” “You trust him now?” “How could I not? He’s got people to care and… talk about what’s happening. He’s got people doubting the Krows, Jax. I never thought I’d see that.” “Are we close?” “It’s not far from here.” He nodded, finally looking away from the painting and down to me. “We should go before it gets dark.” We only knew where his office was, and we knew that he wouldn’t always be there, but it was the only option we had. Even though time was hard to track, living on the streets meant that we could track the habits of London and its residents. From my years of viewing the city work around me, I knew it was likely that he was still there but he probably wouldn’t be there for much longer, and neither of us wanted to wait another day to go and see him, because there was always the danger of not making it through the night. We’d had a few more run ins with the Krows, but nothing like the night where I’d used my knife. We’d somehow managed to keep ourselves hidden, staying with certain charities some nights, but they were usually full. Even so, we got turned away a lot, people wanting to save room for younger children. The older we got, the more at risk we were. In every sense. Harry lead the way, as always, marching us in the right direction before the streets became so utterly crowded it was hard to move. Harry’s long legs carried him with ease as I scurried down at his side trying to keep up with him. “Do you think they’ll let us in this time?” I panicked. “I can’t see why they wouldn’t.” “Well, I think he probably kept pretty quiet about the fact that he’s behind all’a this.” “That’s true. Fuck, what if he’s not even there? What if the government found out it was him?” I didn’t even want to think about that being an outcome, never mind discuss it, so I just stayed quiet. We walked all the way there in complete silence because both of our minds were whirring with the thought of the government tracking him down, because I didn’t imagine they’d be kind or understanding. We were a bundle of nerves by the time we walked through the door, but I was somewhat thankful to see that the woman behind the desk was the woman we’d spoken to before. She didn’t look too happy to see us. She rolled her eyes, and I wondered briefly if Gardan had shared what he’d done with anyone at all. She really had this look on her face that showed she believed we didn’t have a single reason or motive to return there, and that made me think she had no clue what Gardan had done, and the fact that me and Harry had kind of been what spurred him to do it. “I’ve got this.” Harry mumbled to me, before approaching the desk confidently yet again. “We’re here to see Gardan.” He'd tried his best to smile and be polite, but there wasn’t a chance he could hide the snarky tone of his voice, wanting the interaction with her to end as quickly as possible. “I figured.” She groaned. “Just be quick about it. He’s going home soon.” She didn’t say another word. She didn’t even look at us again, leaving us to make our own way around the building. Thankfully, Harry set off right away, obviously remembering where it was we’d travelled to previously, and I followed as quickly as I could, once again trying to keep up with him, and completely baffled by how casually she had let us stroll through the building this time around. Maybe he had told her. Or maybe he’d just told her that we were welcome there if we were to ever show our faces again. I was practically jogging to stay by Harry’s side, for some reason feeling nauseously nervous again, never quite knowing what to expect. Somehow it felt like my existence had been relatively humdrum before Harry came into my life. I was used to routine, battling from one day to the next, but everything had changed the night I met him. I couldn’t help but feel like things had changed for the better, no matter how high our risks seemed. We were outside his door in what felt like seconds, Harry knocking almost aggressively, both of us still feeling rushed and uneasy even though we were there, and we knew him. Somehow, I guess we even trusted him. At least, I knew I did. I think Harry still had his reservations. Gardan answered almost instantly, a bright smile on his face, like he already knew it was going to be us. “I was wondering if I’d see you two again.” He grinned. “Come in.” “We won’t stay long.” Harry mumbled, the two of us stepping inside. “We just… I guess we wanted to say thanks.” He nodded, closing the door once we were both inside and then walking around to the back of his desk, and he looked rather pleased with himself. It made me smile. “It certainly got people talking, didn’t it?” He spoke humbly. “I suppose, better late than never.” “How did you do it?” I asked. “Friends in high places.” He sat down, and gestured that we do the same in the seats across from him. “It’s part of my job to dig for information and facts. Because she was schooled by a charity, it meant I could find her by her name. That’s how I found the image of her, and then I just wanted to… show people. I think a lot of people maybe knew what was happening, they there’s a lot of denial. They choose to ignore it. I just… tried to make that harder for them.” “They’ve not found her.” Harry sighed. “If she was alive, they would have found her, wouldn’t they? They would show us her and prove that she’s alive, because that would shut everyone up. But they haven’t.” “I know it works well for what we’re doing here, but I understand you must hurting. I’m sorry about that.” “I… I didn’t know her.” Harry turned to me. “It was… Jax knew her.” “Well, I’m sorry.” Gardan looked my way. “It’s fine.” I almost whispered. “I guess… I didn’t really know her well, or anything. I dunno.” He looked up to the clock that hung on his wall and noted the time before glancing back to us, and I could see the cogs working in his head, his brows lowering to accompany the questions in his mind. “My work day is over, I’m heading home now.” “Okay.” Harry got to his feet instantly. “We just wanted to say thanks, anyway.” “Would you like a place to stay for the evening?” Gardan asked, raising to his feet too. “I have some spare rooms at my house, and it would be an honour to have you both as guests.” I snapped my head up to the right to stare at Harry, and I’d been expecting him to say no before Gardan had even finished speaking, but he hadn’t. He was just staring, wide eyed, completely in shock over what had just been suggested to us. I couldn’t quite take it in. Our stunned silence spurred Gardan to continue talking. “I live on my own, so you have nothing to worry about. I won’t tell anyone, and you’ll be safe there. I imagine much safer than you are when you’re out on the streets.” He was so calm, collected. “And I’m not offering permanent residence. I understand that would probably require more trust than I’ll ever be able to give the two of you, but if you want to stay for the evening, I have warm food and beds for you both. I think it would be interesting to talk to you both. We all have a lot to gain and learn from each other, don’t you think?” Still nothing, just me and Harry trying to come to terms with the security her was offering us, even if it was just for the night. We had no reasons not to trust him from what we knew of him, but the thought still seemed so daunting to me. That was a lot of faith to place with someone we actually didn’t know. I knew of his work, but in all honesty, I still struggled to read parts. I knew what he’d done for us, and for the community that me and Harry were a part of, but it still felt like it might be too much for us to actually spend the night at his home. Neither of us knew what to say. “I’ll give you a minute.” He left his own office quickly to give the two of us some space, and it was strange, because suddenly myself and Harry completely swapped roles. “I think it’s too much.” I mumbled. “No, we have to do it.” “What?” “I can’t pass this chance up. I just can’t.” He shook his head. “Some proper food and… a bed… Just one night where we can sleep without fear.” “You trust him that much?” “Yes. I think… I think he really is on our side, Jax. He must be. It’s either that or… we’re on the streets again. Even when we’re lucky enough to stay with a charity for the night, there’s always that fear that the Krows will come offering fake sanctuary to kids, and if they find us we’re fucked. They’d kill us. I’m sick of sleeping in fear. I trust him. I just… I want one night. Just one.” He was practically begging me, an almost aching look creasing the skin beside his eyes, and I believed more than anything, that he was tired. He was exhausted, and all he could ask for in that moment was one evening where he wouldn’t be awoken by every noise the night had to offer. I just couldn’t believe it. It was so out of his nature to be that way. “I’ve… I’ve never seen you trust like that before.” I heaved. “Well… I trust you.” He swallowed. “Giving you my trust is… probably one of the best things I’ve ever done.” “Harry-” “Maybe I built my walls too high. Maybe it’s… not all that bad to trust people.” I could virtually see those walls he’d just mentioned falling down around him, crashing against the floor by his feet, and I couldn’t fully decide how I felt about it. Partly, I felt it was a good thing, because he really was one of the most defensive and closed off Lost Children I’d ever met before, but I felt like that was what had kept him safe all those years. I was putting him at risk in more ways than I originally thought. “If you’re sure you wanna, then… I’d like to. I’ve never slept in a proper bed before.” The closest thing I’d ever had to a bed were sheets so thin you’d have to be careful not to tear them as you pulled them over your shivering body, and floormats just about thick enough to stop you from feeling the grooves and dints of the floor you were atop. “We owe this to ourselves, don’t we?” He breathed, finally calming. “I think we do… yeah.” 6:25PM I wasn’t sure I’d ever been to a place to grand before. It was pristine, the building he lived in held together by grand pillars that structured everything so perfectly. It was like nothing I’d ever known in my life, like we’d been thrown back into an era that we’d only ever seen pictures of. It was magnificent. We were sat at his dining table, the distant sound of sizzling coming from the room next door as he hand-prepared food for us, and I was trying my very best to become at ease but neither of us had ever been in surrounding’s like that one. Even when Harry had forced me to eat somewhere that served real food, it had terrified me, not matter how dire the joint was. I was never going to be accustom to places like that, no matter how much I wanted to be. “Jax, calm down.” Harry leaned closer to me, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. “M'sorry,” I attempted to steady my trembles. “I feel nervous.” “You spend every night on the streets, and now you feel nervous.” He grinned, giggling a little. “Just relax. I’m here! Pretend it’s just me and you, alright?” I nodded, and somehow that thought genuinely did help. I suppose it had started that way when I began spending time with Harry, that uncomforting feeling of allowing myself to be around someone, because I’d never really done it before. This was just something else I was going to have to get used to, and hopefully wind up feeling as at ease as I did around Harry. It was just something I had to allow myself to do. Gardan appeared carrying full, steaming plates of food only moments later, and my stomach showed its excitement in ways it never really had before. “It smells amazing.” Harry took a deep breath in before speaking as the food was placed in front of us. “There’s these ovens you can buy, that you practically throw the ingredients in, and they do the rest of the work. I prefer cooking myself, the old-fashioned way.” Whenever I heard about the technology our world had to offer, it only made me feel more bitter. There were machines that prepared nutritious food for people with minimal effort, taking on all the work that previously needed doing, and yet I knew of children who had starved to death. Hearing about it didn’t help me to ease. We all began to eat once he was seated across, and I’d never felt an immediate satisfaction quite like it. It was real food, and it was mine to eat. I could almost taste the love he’d mixed and sprinkled upon each bite I consumed eagerly. It felt like a true blessing to devour. “I have to ask,” Harry avoided speaking with his mouth full as best he could. “Has there been anything said? About Marby? We only see what’s on the streets.” “It took about a week before it got some coverage on the news, but no more than that.” He told us. “It’s like they’re trying to brush over it. The media is biased that way. It’s more the voices of the people in power, rather than the people. It can be very twisted. I write about Mortemosis a lot, but it’s not often that it’s actually printed in the paper I work for. I have to do it independently. Everything is monitored.” “Oh.” Harry dropped his head, disappointed. “But it’s not dying down.” He barked, hoping to lift out spirits as much as he could. “If anything, it’s getting worse. The longer they stay quiet, the angrier people are getting. The Prime Minister is due to make an announcement tomorrow morning, and I’m hoping he addresses this. I’m not sure he will but… I have some hope.” “Are you going to see it?” “It’ll be broadcast so, we can watch it here. It’s safe here. Any Lost Child who even goes near to Downing Street runs the risk of being shot on site. You can watch it safely here, if you’d like.” We both nodded in time with one another. I’d heard and read words of praise towards our government when I was at school, and I had seen images of the man running our country before, but not much else. I’d never heard his voice, I didn’t know what his views were, what he believed in and what he wanted to achieve for our country, so I was utterly intrigued to hear him speak. Even if he didn’t mention the images of Marby that now littered his city, I was still keen to know what he would talk about. “Can I ask you both something?” We looked up to him a little, still rushing down the food he’d given us, and there was still some surprise in his eyes over the way we ate, like he wasn’t quite expecting to see us so desperate. I nodded. “They say Mortemosis was a mistake. They say its original intent was to kill the children. Which is twisted enough in itself, but… Do you really think it was a mistake?” “Are you saying you think they did this on purpose?” Harry dropped his cutlery for a moment. “I’m asking what you think.” “I’ve always thought they did it on purpose.” Harry almost smirked. “I think they knew exactly what they were doing when they created that disease. They wanted the parent’s dead. They thought they could control us but they can’t, and that’s why the Krows are killing us.” Gardan smiled along with him, the two of them looking almost sinister as they mulled over conspiracy theories that I had only found out existed once I met Harry, and it was clear they agreed with one another. I wished I could even attempt at joining their conversation, but I hadn’t read the things Harry had. I hadn’t been allowed access to the information that the two of them had. I dropped my head again, continuing my meal. “Do you think they have a cure?” He continued his questions, aimed at both of us, and answered by Harry. “I dunno. A part of me thinks they would have used it by now, if they did. I don’t think this worked the way they thought it would.” “Population rates did drop.” “Yeah, that’s true.” Harry sighed. “But I still think that this isn’t what they wanted. But I dunno… no matter what it is, it’s fucking twisted. It’s hard to read the minds of people like that.” “You know curse words.” Gardan’s eyes went wide, a delighted smile rupturing his cheeks. That just made Harry grin even more, his eyes darkening with pride. He loved the fact he knew more than most, that he could meet people like the educated man ahead of us, and surprise them. “I know more than you think.” He replied smugly, exceedingly proud of himself, and he should have been. 9:01PM I couldn’t speak as Gardan introduced me to the room I would be spending my night in. It's simplicity was beautiful to me, nothing in there but pristine cream walls and a bed that looked like you could drown within the sheets, so welcoming to me that I had to bite back tears. It didn’t seem real. Nothing that had happened over the past few weeks seemed real, and I think it all just hit me in that moment. Meeting Marby. Meeting Harry. Losing Marby. Learning from Harry. Learning to read again. Allowing myself to become attached to a boy who had educated himself. Finding Gardan. Killing a Krow. Every single thing punched at my stomach as an ominous reminder that my whole life had been turned on its head in such a short space of time, and all those memories and feelings seemed to be stuffed within the thick duvet that was going to wrap around my body for one night, and one night only. I swallowed thickly, hoping my tears would diminish. They didn’t. They began to fall gently as Gardan flicked on a small light that lived beside the bed, and then he turned around and saw me. “Why’re you crying?” He approached me hesitantly. “I’ve just… never had my own room before. I’ve never really stayed in a proper bed before. It’s a lot to take in, y’know?” He couldn’t understand it, he’d never be able to. This is why Harry had always doubted anyone who wasn’t a Lost Child. They could sympathize, but they’d truly understand our lives. They’d never really be able to wrap their heads around how difficult it was just to exist under our circumstances. “I hope you sleep well.” He nodded after a while, not sure what else to say. “Thank you.” “Goodnight.” He wished. He nodded, and then took my eyes to Harry, who was stood out in the hallway with a noticeable lump in his throat as he waited to be guided to his room, lost for words. And then the door closed, and I was alone. I stood awkwardly on my spot for a long time before I began to slowly remove my clothes, knowing that I would be too warm if I was to keep them on. It was all so foreign, but I was slowly allowing myself to feel excited rather than just utterly overwhelmed. I was so ready to sleep well, for what might have been the very first time in my entire life. I left on a thin layer, that just about covered most of my decency before I lifted the sheets, and placed myself beneath them, sinking into the mattress and feeling like I was floating. More tears fell as I wrapped myself up tightly, and it was silly really. It was materialistic and minor, but at the same time it was everything. It meant everything to me. I was protected, in someone’s home, no risk of the Krows entering at any moment, no harsh winds, nothing but blissful safety and silence. Even so, I left the light on. It was a long time before I calmed, squeezing the sheets ever tighter against my frame, and my head felt heavy, but in a way I hadn’t experienced before. It wasn’t heavy with thoughts, or worries, but somehow it was heavy with utter nothingness. And then there was a small knock on the door. I turned so I was facing the right way, and I watched as Harry slowly opened it. He was wearing next to nothing, stood in my doorway with some black shorts on and nothing else, his face low. I sat up instantly, completely alarmed by the mournful look upon his delicate features. He looked trapped somewhere between confused and heartbroken. “Is everything okay?” I gasped. He lifted his eyes from the floor and let them greet my own, biting nervously at his lip before he managed to speak. “Can I stay with you?” He looked so sad, and I suppose it was difficult to understand. He and Gardan had continued their animated conversation over our food and beyond, talking of theories and thoughts that kept the two of them awake at night, and I had almost seen the conversation breathe this new life into him. He was excited and tested and intrigued by the things they’d spoken about, and I felt like I’d never seen him happier. But seeing him then, stood in the doorway, he’d never looked sadder. So I nodded, hitching to one side of the bed as he shut the door behind himself and approached me, clambering under the sheets as I had, and tucking himself up tightly. I looked into his eyes for a few moments, aching to ask what was wrong, but knowing he probably couldn’t word it. It wasn’t really something he could explain to me, just this feeling of sorrow that had overcome him. I gave him a timid smile before turning and facing the other way, unable to look at the pain in his eyes any longer, wishing there was something I could do to help him. Within seconds of me turning, he moved, forcefully wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me so that I crashed against his body, and although it was quick and harsh, I didn’t feel shocked. I simply accepted the way he’d repositioned our bodies, his lips gently grazing the back of my neck, body perfect against mine, arms tightly wound around me like he was scared I could slip away from him. We lay in silence, breathing in our proximity and closing our eyes, and I eased. “I somehow still felt cold without you.” He whispered. And although I didn’t admit it out loud because I could barely admit it to myself, I knew exactly what he meant, and I had felt exactly the same way. 8:41AM By the time I awoke, I found that I had turned in my sleep, still tucked against Harry’s broad body, but facing him. My eyes fluttered open, and it was nice to awake feeling completely calm, still warm and comforted, and I found myself nudging even closer to the boy whose arms were held tight around my back. I looked up to him, the tips of my fingers subconsciously tracing tiny circles against his chest, loving his steady breathing and how at peace he seemed. I didn’t want to move. I wanted to stay entombed there forever, lost within that one moment that seemed so beautiful and simple compared to every other second of my sorry life. Watching him sleep, I knew, was one of the most stunning sights I’d ever been able to behold. I should have known I’d never be able to bask in that feeling for too long, because when he began to sweetly stir, it utterly shattered the temporary existence I’d adorned, and left me craving the imaginary life I’d briefly found myself within. He awoke with as much ease as I did, tilting his head down just slightly so he could see me fully, noting how close we still lay, but not moving. “Morning.” He greeted, and I swear, his arms tightened even more, his voice deep and delightful. “Do you think this how normal people feel?” I whispered up to him. “Some people get to wake up every morning like this.” “This is what I want.” He lifted one hand, beginning to stroke neatly through the hair at the back of head. “My dream. A house and… Waking up with someone there. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted.” “I know you thought I’d want something selfless, if I could have anything, but… I dunno. That was before I knew what this would be like.” It seemed him waking hadn’t pulled me from my fantasy at all, instead dragging me further in, letting the fictional world that felt so cruel in its kindness last a short while longer. Suddenly, I felt his lips against my head, pattering a small and tender to kiss to the centre of my forehead as I closed my eyes and breathed him in, wondering if we could possibly manage to stay for one more night. He'd kept us safe, and our trust with him had never been stronger. “How rich do you think Gardan is?” Harry smiled. “We’ll kick him out and force him to live somewhere else, and we can stay here.” It was nice to be laughing, something that felt so rare in my life it was almost like I had to hide it, burying my face into his chest and giggling there instead. “We could make a life for ourselves, Jax. We’re both clever enough. Think of what we could achieve together if we weren’t Lost Children.” “Don’t be silly.” I smiled. “I’m serious! Look at what we’ve achieved already.” “But do you think… if we weren’t Lost Children… do you think we’d even care? Or do you think we’d just ignore the world, like most people do.” His face dropped somewhat, only taking a moment to mull over my question before he answered. “I dunno… And that scares me.” He answered honestly. It was something that terrified me too, the thought that I may be one those people who blissfully went about their lives if we were lucky enough to live somewhere, have homes and lives and jobs. It was easy to say we wouldn’t be that way, but we’d never know for sure. It was a haunting idea, and one we didn’t want to dwell on. “We should get up.” I sighed, unstitching our bodies. He lay there for a while longer as I got up, slowly dressing myself and questioning where our lives would take us from then on. I couldn’t help but feel like maybe things would just go downhill from there, and it broke my heart. Harry lay staring up to the ceiling the entire time I readied myself, obviously not quite prepared to pull himself away from our wonderland. “I’ll meet you downstairs.” I smiled weakly, and didn’t receive a reply. I scurried downwards without looking back to him, feeling sad and wistful and happy and consoled all at the same time. It was becoming increasingly difficult to place my emotions. I was a little hesitant as I made my way downstairs, not sure where I was or wasn’t allowed, what was or wasn’t rude. I moved slowly, letting my fingertips stroke across the walls and objects that I passed on my journey, taking in the building in every way I could before I had to leave again. I eventually found myself wandering towards the kitchen, where I found Gardan preparing even more food. “Good morning!” He greeted cheerily. “How did you sleep?” “V’never slept like that in my life. I… I dunno how to say thanks.” “There’s no need.” He dismissed. “No, I need to find a way. You don’t know what this means to us. How big this is for us. It’s been amazing, so… Thank you.” “I enjoyed having you here. My doors always open for you, I hope you know that.” It dawned on me in that moment, the exact reason I knew that me and Harry wouldn’t spend more nights there, no matter how heavenly it had been. It would demolish that line between everything we had known, and everything we had always dreamed of having. Being there with him, we could turn our backs on our lives, shun our previous existence and begin anew, and somehow that wasn’t enough for us. We didn’t want to become those people we feared, the ones who went about their lives ignoring their fellow human, the ones who slept on street corners and were taken in the middle of the night. Being there had helped us to ignore the world outside, and we didn’t want to do that. We couldn’t. We’d rather continue an honest existence than begin a fake one, no matter how chilling our current one was. Even so, I nodded, and thanked him. “The Prime Minister is about to make his speech. Would you like to watch?” “Yes.” He walked us into the other room, Harry appearing from the top of the stairs and making his way downwards as Gardan somehow made an image appear upon his wall, live footage from outside our Prime Ministers home, reporters stood eagerly awaiting his speech. “What’s his name?” I asked. “Pete Banning.” Gardan answered. “Do you like him?” “I strongly dislike him.” He sighed. “I strongly believe that he is not a good man. Not just politician, but man. A poor excuse for a human being. Some of his policies are literally put in place to make life more difficult for people on poor wages. He’s taken away their free healthcare. He’s lowered wages. He’s even in the process of making it so those who didn’t go to university get paid less, even if they’re in the same job role as someone who did. He’s scum.” Harry came and stood beside me, looking up to the images, utterly intrigued. I just looked at him. We were left alone once more as our host went to finish making our morning meal, and that’s when the image ahead of us showed a man walking through a door marked 10, smiling and waving as flashes bolted across his body like he was being struck by lightning over and over again. “He has to mention her.” Harry whispered. “He just has to.” I wanted him to mention her too; to acknowledge what had been going on in his city, the anger of the people and the fact they finally wanted answers to questions they hadn’t fully dared to ask before. “If he doesn’t mention it, people will just be angrier.” I swallowed. “If he doesn’t mention it-” “People will riot.” Harry nodded. “So maybe… it would be best if he didn’t.” I swallowed, watching as the man onscreen asked the crowds to calm down, ready to speak. “Maybe… Don’t we want people to be angry?” Harry didn’t get the chance to answer, because Pete Banning began talking, and we both shut ourselves up immediately, our ears pricking with intrigue. “I’d like to thank you all for coming today, despite the weather.” He grinned, and despite what Gardan had just told us, I found myself automatically pulled to the man. He was charming. “I’ve invited you all here today, as I believe it’s utterly necessary that I address the images that have been appearing across our once beautiful city, and the message they convey.” “Once beautiful city.” Harry scowled as he repeated his words. “Like Marby somehow made it ugly. Fuck this. I can’t watch.” He sulked over to the sofa and sat himself down, covering his eyes as Gardan walked back into the room, eyes on the screen as he took Harry’s spot. “I am shocked, by the notion, and the implication, that our Krows are sent out onto the streets of our wonderful city, for any other reason than to help those who need it most.” He continued, strong, powerful. “The taxpayer’s money, would never be used to harm another human being, no matter who they are. What the Krows do, is wonderful work, and it is kept private for many reasons. The scheme they put into place, helps these children to work within our world. We have found them homes. We have found them jobs. We have given them educations, and it’s all thanks to the Krows.” “He’s fucking lying!” Harry spat, practically jumping back to his feet. “People aren’t going to believe this shit. Tell me people won’t believe this?” Gardan remained quiet, staring up to the screen with a sombre look, refusing to answer Harry, which just made us feel worse. Because people were going to buy into what he was saying. It was an easier pill to swallow, and from what Gardan had told us, this was exactly the kind of thing that the general public were susceptible to. “To think that people believe we would send out workers to hurt, and even kill these innocent children, who we have always tried to help-” “BULLSHIT!” Harry screamed. “-upsets me deeply. For many reasons. Not just because I am proud, of the work that the Krows do, and the danger they put themselves in order to make this city a safer place to live. But… because… I have a very personal connection with Lost Children.” He seemed to be losing some of that confidence, and I really couldn’t tell if it was completely contrived in order to make the people of London calm down, or if it was genuine. Harry neared the screen, his eyes wide as Mr Banning tried to compose himself in order to continue. “What the fuck is he doing?” Harry gasped quietly. “What the fuck is he doing?” “I never planned on sharing this information.” The man onscreen continued. “But I feel as though I owe my people the truth.” “This is bad.” Gardan shuddered. “He’s making himself weak. He’s making himself human. Fuck.” “Nineteen years ago,” He continued, his voice broken, and you could just about make out his trembles, the image zooming in on his face. “A woman I loved very dearly gave birth… to our child.” “He’s not doing this.” Gardan quaked. “There’s no way…” We were all utterly transfixed, and I think we’d all taken steps closer to the image without even fully realising we had, our mouths and eyes wide as we came to terms with what he was saying, and what he was about to share. “And before I was even made aware, of the birth of our beautiful daughter, Wendy… Mortemosis had taken the life of the woman I loved. I searched mercilessly to find my daughter… but she had become lost in a school system which abolished her name, and her identity.” I was in shock. I wasn’t even sure I believed what he was saying to be true, but either way, it was shocking. He either had a daughter who became a Lost Child, or he was pretending he did in order to stop people attacking him and the minions he had working for him. I felt sick. “I would never, ever, agree for anyone to hurt any child, as it would feel like hurting my family, my flesh and blood. I aim to keep those children safe, and I’ve never wanted any different. I pray, every night, that my daughter is alive and well, and I would never do anything if I thought it may harm her. I would never want to harm any of those children, who remain strong and noble in the face of adversity. The Krows are available to help, and they will continue their work, no matter the doubts. Thank you for your time.” With one last nod towards the crowd ahead of him, and what sounded like hundreds of voices screaming questions in his direction, he turned, and walked back through the door he had walked out of only a few minutes earlier. And we remained silent, staring upwards, blank words, blank minds, blank hearts.

#shitttttttttttttttttt #it's all kicking off from here on out #feedback would be sound #1dff #Harry Styles #v&m #Vitae & Mortem #V&M7

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gothchic6 · 5 years ago

Text

Silver’s Skater Girl Chapter 6: Monks, Scares, and Even a Kidnapping

Here's the Disclaimer!

*Pokes Silver with a long stick*

gothchic6: Come on, Silver, do the Disclaimer.

Silver: Go away, you irritating Fanfiction writer with no life.

gothchic6: Hey, I do too have a life! Here, let me show you… Oh, wait, he's right, I don't have a life… Hey, who stole my life?!

Silver: Maybe if you'd socialize more, and stop using the Internet as often, you would have a life.

gothchic6: What would you know about socializing?!

*gothchic6 and Silver start arguing loudly*

Calypso: Hey, it's my job to fight with Silver! Oh well, while I'm over here, I might as well do the Disclaimer. gothchic6 does not own Pokémon and does not get anything for writing this. She does own her OCs like JC and Monica. She technically owns me, but it's a bunch of bullcrap.

gothchic6: Hey!

***

Monks, Scares, and Even a Kidnapping:

Sprout Tower is my next objective.

When you're far away from Sprout Tower, it only looks like a puny little baby tower, but when you get up close, it is freaking gigantic! I walk into the large building, where a few monks and an old lady are hanging out.

"I heard people come here to train their Pokémon. Is that true?"

The monk closest to the stairs nods and replies, "Yes, child, it is. Go up these stairs, and there will be other monks willing to do battle with you."

Anger slowly burns up inside me at being called a child. That's what Gran always called me, that miserable old hag. I hate when old people do that, it's so annoying; I'm seventeen for crying out loud, I'm almost an adult!

"Watch who you call a child, you old geezer."

The monk chuckles, but doesn't reply as I make my way past him, and up the stairs.

I address Spirit, who is still on my shoulder.

"Hey, look, I know I said I wanted to train you, but I think Cyndi needs a bit more training than you do at the moment. You can stay on my shoulder though, if you want, and do whatever Murkrows do when they're not battling for their awesome trainer. Cool?"

Spirit rolls her eyes, but nods anyways. I let out Cyndi, who is ecstatic to be out of her Pokéball.

"Okay, Cyndi, it's time for some training. We're in Sprout Tower, so guess what kind of Pokémon we're mostly likely going to be fighting? That's right: Bellsprout! Your firepower will kill them in one hit, so it's easy training. But watch out, because I bet that some of the monks have more than just Bellsprout."

Cyndi nods, excited at the prospect of setting other Pokémon on fire. And I thought she wasn't violent. Eh, it's fine as long as she only does it to opponents, mean people, or people trying to kill us.

So Cyndi, Spirit and I climb the tower, setting Bellsprouts on fire, and gaining experience. While Cyndi battles, Spirit gives her advice or teases Cyndi about her fire not being hot enough. Cyndi responds by sending a small fireball towards Spirit, who dodges it. The fireball hits the wooden wall, leaving a small hole that goes to the outside. Thankfully, the nearest monk is more than 15 feet away, and can't see over here.

"Oops… well, they won't notice it until later, right?"

Spirit and Cyndi snicker. We quickly make it up to the highest floor, where Cyndi burns the first two monks. We are in the middle of beating up the third, when he sends out his second Pokémon.

"I knew it, I so fucking knew it. See, Cyndi, I knew it wouldn't just be Bellsprout", I mutter as I study the owl-like Pokémon in front of me. Hoothoot. They're good when they're on your side, otherwise, not so much.

"Cyndi, let's get this done fast, use Ember!"

"Hoothoot, dodge it, and use Hypnosis!"

The Ember hits the Hoothoot full force, but it's not enough to knock it out. Unfortunately for me, the Hypnosis hits Cyndi dead on.

"Cyndi, it's not the time for napping, come on! I know you can do it!"

The monk just shakes his head and orders his Hoothoot to use Tackle on Cyndi, which it does. Cyndi now looks like she's fighting off a terrible nightmare. I'm panicking, and even Spirit is worried now.

"Come on, Cyndi, if you wake up, I'll buy you those Cheri Berries you like so much!"

Of course the mention of food instantly gets Cyndi's attention, and she awakens.

"Now, use your Quick Attack!"

In a flash, Cyndi attacks the Hoothoot, knocking it out.

"Yay, Cyndi!"

Cyndi blushes in pride. Suddenly, I hear a familiar voice coming from the back of the room. Cyndi, Spirit, and I walk over to see what's going on. The owner of the voice is that asshole who stole Elm's Totodile, what was his name? Oh yeah, Silver.

I'm watching Silver talk to the Elder from behind the big pillar. I can hear what the Elder is saying to him.

"You've shown us what you've got, and it is indeed good. Take this Technical Machine. However, you treat your Pokémon far too harshly. Remember, Pokémon are not tools of war…"

I shift behind the pillar, silently trying to keep from laughing, but botch it up when a snort comes out. Silver apparently hears me, and I'm forced to come out of hiding. He hastily stomps towards me, an annoyed look on his face. He leans against the pillar casually as his piercing steely eyes stare me down. Then, he speaks.

"… …Humph! He calls himself the Elder, but he was no match for me. Sure enough, those who lecture how you should be "nice" to Pokémon… They cannot defeat me. All I care about are strong Pokémon that win every time. The rest of them don't mean anything to me."

He looks down at Cyndi, a sneer etched on his sharp face. "That goes for your wimpy Cyndaquil", he glances at Spirit, "and your stupid Murkrow, too."

Cyndi and Spirit growl in response to Silver's insults. I can feel a fit of rage coming on… He continues his tirade.

"What can you and your puny Pokémon accomplish, anyway? I'll be the strongest Pokémon Trainer ever. I'll do whatever it takes, especially if it means beating you down."

I am about to break, but Cyndi is far beyond me in the anger department. She begins to snarl, a look of fury on her normally adorable face. Silver just looks down on her with a mock-worried expression.

"Aww, what is the tiny little Cyndaquil going to do about it?"

I point to Silver, "Get him, Cyndi! Set his ass on fire!"

Cyndi suddenly erupts in a bright white light. Her body becomes longer, her eyes become red, and that's when I realize that she's evolving.

The white light disappears as Cyndi roars a different name, "Quilava!"

I break out into cheers, "Oh my God, Cyndi, you evolved!"

Silver seems fazed by Cyndi's evolution, but quickly snaps out of it. In a matter of seconds, he's back to berating us again.

"So what if your Cyndaquil evolved into a Quilava? It's still a weak, puny Pokémon. All of yours are. If you think I'm going to let a wimp like you keep me from my goals, then keep dreaming."

He goes to walk away, when I yell out to him, "Hey, asshole!"

He stops walking, his body becoming rigid at the insult I just threw at him.

"Just remember, Cyndi and Spirit here are gunning for you. Cyndi's anger towards you is what pushed her over the edge, and made her evolve. I'd watch your back. Oh, and if you don't treat your Pokémon right, they're going to be pissed at you. That Totodile of yours is small now, but he's gonna grow bigger. And when he does, you might want to watch your mouth, or you could become his next snack. Just remember that."

Silver turns around to face me again, and his mouth is in a tight line.

"I think I'll take my chances." Then he uses an escape rope to get out of the tower.

Spirit and Cyndi are staring at me, grins on their faces.

"You guys were pissed off a minute ago, what changed to make you happy?"

"Murkrow Murk Murkrow. Krow Murkrow (That was an awesome comeback you came up with. I wouldn't be able to pull that off)", Spirit explains.

"Quil. Quilava, Lava Quilava. Lava Lava Quil, Quilava Lava Quilava (Yeah. And you know what, I think you're right about Totodile. He was always an ass back at the Lab, I wouldn't put it past him to attack his trainer if he was really mad)", Cyndi adds.

I laugh, and end up snorting, which makes them laugh.

We walk up to the last monk, who looks much older than the other monks. He is staring at me intently, as if he is trying figure me out.

"Are the you the last monk in this joint?"

"Yes, I am Elder Li. I assume you are here to battle, Miss…?"

"It's Calypso, and you assume correctly."

"Well, Calypso, show me the bond you and your Pokémon share. Bellsprout, go forth into battle!"

So Cyndi uses her Ember attack to take out the Elder's two Bellsprouts. Then, he sends out his last Pokémon, a…

"Hoothoot", I mutter darkly. Of course he has to have a Hoothoot. Cyndi gazes at me with a determined expression.

"Cyndi, use your Ember attack!"

Cyndi shoots a ball of fire at the Hoothoot, who tries to hop away, but gets hit in the wing.

"Hoothoot, use Hypnosis!"

"Cyndi, avoid Hypnosis with everything you've got, then use Quick Attack!"

Cyndi manages to avoid Hypnosis, but her Quick Attack doesn't work out so well, and she misses.

"Hoothoot, use Tackle on Quilava's unprotected side!"

Hoothoot does just that, and hits Cyndi where she can't defend herself from; her right hind leg. Cyndi gets hit, but quickly turns around to face the Hoothoot again.

"Cyndi, use Ember before it gets too far away!"

Cyndi shoots out another fireball, but instead of being red, the fire is blue, making it that much more powerful. It hits Hoothoot directly, knocking it out.

Elder Li recalls his fallen Hoothoot, and walks up to me, a CD-like thing in his hands.

"Calypso, that battle was amazing. I enjoyed watching you and your Pokémon working in harmony together. Here is TM70 Flash. It lowers the opponent's accuracy, and can be used to illuminate caves. If I may make a suggestion, teaching a Bellsprout this move would be beneficial…"

"Thanks, Elder Li. I'm gonna go back to the Pokémon Center for a rest, and hopefully, some food. These guys deserve it."

With that, I use an escape rope I found on the floor to get out of this tower.

*Three Hours Later*

Back at the Pokémon Center, I've booked a room for the night, which thankfully I don't have to share with anyone else. I used the some of the money I received from defeating all of the trainers I've battled to buy some food from the food truck that finally came in around two hours ago.

I'm munching on some chips and salsa, while Cyndi, Spirit, and Forest are happily eating the Pokémon food I bought for them. Dusk, however, is staring at the food blankly, and then gives me a look as if to say, "What the heck is this shit?"

"What, you don't like Pokémon food?"

Dusk shakes her head, and replies, "Misdreavus Misdrea Mis (I receive nourishment from the fear of others)."

I turn to gape at her, my eyebrows rising. "Are you kidding me? What am I supposed to do, go to the Pokémart and ask for the 'Fear' flavored Pokémon food?"

Dusk narrows her eyes at me. "Misss, Misdreavus Dreavus Mis. Misdreavus (Nooo, check your Pokédex entry on me. You'll see)."

"Okay", I say as I take out the red Encyclopedia device.

The Pokédex begins to speak in an annoying computer-generated voice as I click on Misdreavus's entry.

"Misdreavus, the Screech Pokémon. Misdreavus feed off of the fear of others. They like to frighten people by randomly screaming and pulling people's hair, and then absorbing the fear with the orbs around their necks."

"So, you were telling truth. What do you want to do, go around the town and scare the crap out of people", I ask Dusk.

Dusk grins, and replies, "Misdreavus (Precisely)."

I shrug. "Hey, Cyndi, Spirit, and Forest! Me and Dusk are gonna go scare the shit out of some people! We'll be back in a little bit. While we're gone, guard the room so no one steals you guys or any of my stuff. If we're not back by around three in the morning, tell Nurse Joy that I've gone missing. Okay?" All three nod.

I gesture for Dusk to follow me out of the window, and over to the woods by the Pokémon Center. It's dark already, so when we do pop out and scare people, they won't be able to see us coming.

We hide behind some trees, waiting for our first victim. Soon, a young kid around 11 or 12 walks by the trees we're hiding behind. Dusk flies out, attaches herself to the boy's red cap, and screams. The boy shrieks with terror, and he runs around, trying to dislodge whatever he thinks is on his hat. Dusk suddenly lets go, and the boy runs screaming into the distance. Dusk floats back over to me, a look of delight in her red eyes. We glance at each other for a moment before bursting out in laughter.

I wipe a tear from my eye. "Nice one, Dusk. How much fear does that translate into?"

"Misdreavus. Misdreavus Mis Drea Misdreavus (Thanks. It's like how filling a chicken breast is to a human)."

"So, probably a couple more scares like that, and you'll be good?"

Dusk nods. So, Dusk and I scare a few more people, the most memorable being an old lady that when we popped out, screamed something about us being the devil's children, and threw her cane at us, which hit me in the gut. So, now I have a cane that doesn't belong to me, a bruise most likely forming on my stomach, and an old lady nowhere in sight. Great. Well, she's not getting her cane back, at any rate.

It's around midnight when Dusk and I decide to go back to the Pokémon Center. We are walking through the woods, when suddenly, strong arms grab me from behind, attempting to drag me to who knows where. One hand goes over my mouth, so I bite it, while I struggle to free myself by kicking and punching. The person attempting to restrain me curses, pulls out a white cloth, and holds it over my mouth and nose. I stupidly try to breathe in, and my nose fills with an intoxicating scent that slowly makes me pass out. Before everything goes black, I can see the silhouette of a Pokémon attacking Dusk, and restraining her as well. The worst part is, I can't do anything to prevent it. I'm sorry, Dusk.

I wake up to cold water being thrown on me. I sputter, and try to shake off any excess water on my face. I open my eyes and look up, only to see Silver and his Totodile. Haha, I guess it hasn't evolved yet. I gaze in all directions, trying to spot Dusk, only to see that a Gastly and a Zubat, that probably belong to Silver, are holding her down on the ground. I try to get up to help her, but I find that I've been tied up.

"Dusk", I call out to her, worry in my tone. "Dreavus Mis Misdreavus. Misdreavus Dreavus, Misdreavus (I'm alright, Calypso. They're just restraining me, nothing more)", she responds.

"Oh thank God she's not hurt", I exclaim with relief. I then glare back up at Silver, who has been watching Dusk and I speak with interest.

"How can you understand your Pokémon's speech? When mine talk to me, it's as if we're playing charades."

I scoff, and turn my head away. "As if I'm going to tell you. And what the heck is with you kidnapping us? That's just creepy, dude. Although, I am impressed that you managed to grab me and tie me up. Normally if someone attempted that, they'd get the shit beat out of them."

Silver glares at me for a few more moments before pulling out a piece of paper, holding it in front of my face, and quietly asking, "Why?"

I examine the paper before realizing that it's a wanted poster for Silver. Only thing is, the name next to the picture says Gold, and the picture is not exactly accurate. From far away, the picture mostly looks like Silver, but when you look up close, there are many little flaws that distinguish the picture from the real Silver.

First of all, the bright red hair isn't long enough. Silver's hair reaches down to his shoulders, but in the picture, it only falls to below the ears. Also, Silver's eyes are a darker silver than the pictures, and he's more built in real life. Oh, and in the picture, the black jacket is longer, and the pants are a bit tighter, so it looks like he's wearing a dress and leggings.

My head rises to match his determined, yet somewhat confused gaze. "Why what", I question him, not really knowing what he wants me to tell him.

His teeth clench, and he pulls the poster back. Then he lowers himself until his face is around 4 inches away from mine. He scowls, and asks menacingly, "Why didn't you rat me out?"

I narrow my eyes at him. "You don't even know if I was the one who told the police about you. Why are you asking me about this?"

He scoffs. "Please, don't give me that crap. I saw Elm give you that starter Pokémon. He gave you his phone number, and I can almost bet that he called you when one of his precious Pokémon went missing. That's why you were heading towards New Bark Town when you ran into me. I was so stupid to have accidently dropped my Trainer Card like I did. Then, to my horrible luck, you found it, and picked it up. You probably saw a lot before I succeeded in getting it back from you. You have to at least know my real name, if not more. So, when you got back to Elm's Lab, the police were there. I know, because I heard them coming. Do you know how I know that you were the one to give them details about me?"

I roll my eyes, and he continues. "Elm only saw the back of me before I jumped out of the window, and into Route 29. He couldn't have known that I have silver eyes, or what the front of my jacket looks like, even if the length is messed up. I was long out of sight by the time the police got there, so they couldn't identify me. I snuck around Route 29, letting no one spot me until you ran into me at the Cherrygrove City limits. It had to be you who gave them the information, there was no one else who fully saw me. So don't try to give me some cock-and-bull story about how it wasn't you who did it."

I raise my eyebrows at his statement. Then, I smile, which fazes him.

"What are you smiling for? I have you tied up, and soaking wet, and yet, you look like I just gave you chocolate."

I snort. "Okay, you got me. I did give the police details about who stole the Totodile from Professor Elm's Lab. See, I admitted it. Happy?"

Silver glowers at me heatedly, and replies, "No. Why did you give the police fake information about me? Why not just rat me out? I'd think you of all people would want to see my Pokémon get taken away from me, and see me get thrown into jail."

"Nah. Seeing your Pokémon being taken away from you isn't my cup of tea. Besides, from what I've seen, you're not a bad trainer, when it comes to training methods, at least. All three of your Pokémon look healthy enough, so I assume you feed them at least once a day. The only thing that really bugs me about you is that you treat your Pokémon like they are slaves or tools. You've got to treat them better, or they'll grow up to hate you."

Silver rolls his eyes. "You think I haven't heard that before? If you treat Pokémon like they're your friends, they'll go soft on you. They slack off because they know you won't yell at them for it. I'm going to be the strongest trainer there ever is, and being nice to my Pokémon isn't going to help that. So quit lecturing me about it, and tell me the real reason you didn't rat me out."

"Make me, you asshole."

He sends a death glare at me, and then orders his Totodile to use Water Gun on me. Now, I'm completely soaked, and it's slowly getting colder outside. If I don't get out of these wet clothes soon, I'll freeze to death.

"Okay, okay. The reason I didn't snitch is because if I did, I'd be a hypocrite. And I'd hate it if I was called a hypocrite. Satisfied?"

"Why, do you steal Pokémon and other things, too? That would make you just as bad as me."

I scoff. "That's classified, and I'm not as bad as you because I treat my Pokémon nicely. Now, would you let me go already? It's freaking cold out here, and I'm in soaking wet clothes."

Silver says nothing, but pulls out a switchblade, and cuts me free. I stare at the weapon in his hand. It's really long.

"What's that thing for, skewering Pokémon that don't listen or aren't powerful enough for you?"

I know I shouldn't be provoking a guy who has a long knife in his hand, but I can't help myself.

His face flushes red, and it seems like he wants to attack me, but he just gives an angry sigh, and pockets the switchblade.

"I'm not wasting my time on wimps like you again. Gastly, Zubat, let the Misdreavus go. We're done here."

He walks into a deeper part of the woods, his three Pokémon following him from behind. Soon, he disappears into the distance.

I glance towards Dusk, who has just regain her bearings. "Well, that went well", I say with a straight face. Dusk just shakes her head, and if she had hands, she'd be holding her head. I check the Pokégear, and it's already two in the morning!

"Holy shit, Dusk! We need to get back to the Pokémon Center if we want any sleep for tomorrow! Come on!"

We run to the back of the Pokémon Center, climb through the window, and into our room. All three Pokémon are laying, fast asleep. I yawn, and get into my bed, where I join them in dreamless sleep.

That chapter was so fun to write! Calypso is such a brat, and Silver is a jerk, so the dialogue between them is awesome to write.

Here's the stats of Calypso's Pokémon at the end of this chapter:

Spirit (Murkrow)

Level: 12

Ability: Insomnia

Moves: Faint Attack (Egg Move), Peck, Astonish, and Pursuit. (She had the opportunity to learn Haze, but it's a sucky move, so she didn't.)

Cyndi (Quilava)

Level: 14

Ability: Blaze

Moves: Tackle, Ember, Quick Attack, and Smokescreen.

Dusk (Misdreavus)

Level: 12

Ability: Levitate

Moves: Psywave, Growl, Spite, and Astonish.

Forest (Bellsprout)

Level: 10

Ability: Chlorophyll

Moves: Vine Whip and Growth.

#pokemontraineroc #pokemonfanfic #pokemonfanfiction #violet city #sprouttower #cyndaquil #quilava #bellsprout #hoothoot #johtojourneys #heartgold and soulsilver #silverrival #rival silver

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withlovingregards · 6 years ago

Text

PWTU: Cobalt’s Beginning

Sorry, this isn’t edited because I wanted to post it before my lunch ended. I hope you enjoy!

"Cobalt, you're moving the whole truck with your wiggling!"

Said boy, ten years old and sat between his parents in the small truck they had borrowed, stopped for only a moment to look at his mother. He was only able to give her a quick grin before he went back to wiggling in his excitement.

"I'm sorry mom, I'm just so happy! I can't believe I'm about to get my very own Pokemon. I feel just like Red! He was ten when he started his very own Pokemon journey."

"Don't I know it," his father said, keeping his eyes on the road, "I remember watching that boy climb to the top like it was nothing."

"That's gonna be me soon dad!"

Cobalt looked out the window, hoping they would make it to his uncle's lab soon while his parents shared a look over his head. Chartreuse shook her head at her husband, a silent indication that they would save that talk for a later date.

Soon enough, the three of them pulled up to a lab that they had visited many times before, with a familiar man standing outside waving at him. His hair was a mess as it usually was, with his glasses on slightly crooked and his lab coat a little worse for wear, but he was happy to see his family in person none the less.

Cobalt climbed over his mother's lap, not waiting for her to get out before he jumped out of the open door and started running. Elm opened his arms and was able not to be bowled over by the child that threw himself at him.

"Cobalt, you've gotten so big since the last time I saw you!"

The blonde smiled at him, his missing teeth making that genuine smile so much more adorable.

"I had to grow stronger to become a Pokémon trainer, duh!"

Elm ruffled Cobalt's hair as he laughed, "Of course, of course!"

Cyan and Chartreuse finally made their way over to the duo, giving their own hugs and pats on the back to the man they hadn't been able to visit in a while.

"Thank you so much for doing this brother. Cobalt hasn't been able to stop talking about this moment for the past two weeks."

"It's my pleasure! Thankfully, his birthday seemed to fall around the same time I got a large group of Pokémon. I think it's the largest assortment I've ever received, so he has his choice of many Pokémon."

"Come on, come on! My partner is in there, I just know it!"

Without waiting for any of the adults, the young boy burst inside the lab, scaring some of the Pokémon as well as the interns. The three couldn't help but laugh as they followed after him, Cyan clapping his brother on the back and thanking him again for this opportunity.

Cobalt's eyes were wide as he looked around the large lab, which held spacious pens where Pokémon of all types were either sleeping in or playing around with some toys. Running over to the closest one, he found a napping Flareon, its tail and feet twitching as it dreamed. Unable to resist, Cobalt stuck a couple of his fingers through the bars, successfully able to pet the fluffy tail and his eyes shone with wonder.

"It's so soft and warm! I bet it has really powerful fire moves!"

"Oh no," Chartreuse groaned to herself, "I was hoping he wouldn't pick a fire type. That's going to be interesting."

With a chuckle, Elm moved around and picked up a Pokemon from a nearby table and walked up behind his nephew. "How about this one champ?"

It hopped right on top of the young boy's head, holding on gently but securely. Cobalt gasped and tried to look up, unfortunately unable to see the mystery animal, though he grew even more excited when he heard it squawk at his sudden movement.

It leaned over his head, causing both of them to look each other in the eyes, though upside down. The bird cocked its head to the side, confused at the small person it was looking at.

"Krow?"

"A MURKROW?!"

"KROW!"

Scared and offended by the loud noise, the Murkrow pecked the boy in the middle of his forehead before it flew back to the table it had been resting on before, now weary of all the strangers in the room. Cobalt rubbed at the sore spot on his head, sticking his tongue out at the creature.

"Okay, maybe not that one."

Cobalt nodded his head in agreement before he continued on. It took him a while to look at them all, and while all the Pokemon were cool and had their own unique personalities... none of them really fit with him. He had gone over the scene in his head a million times on their trip here of how everything would go. They would be able to look into each other's eyes and know without a doubt in the world they were meant for one another.

But none of these Pokemon had been the one. They were all very nice, even if that Murkrow had pecked him, but they weren't meant for him. Their trainer was out there somewhere, waiting for them. He just wasn't that trainer.

Chartreuse saw that sparkle of sadness in her son's eyes and the slump to his shoulders as that excitement left him. Crouching down to his level, she put her arm over his shoulder and pulled him in close.

"Hey, don't worry sweetie. We'll find you your starter, it just might take some time to find the right one."

"I guess," the young boy sighed, giving all the Pokemon another once over, but still, he felt no connection with any of them. He was so sure he would find them here...

"There, uh... there is one more option," Elm spoke up, catching everyone's attention as he pushed himself off the wall, "I just got a litter of Cyndaquil the other day. Rescues from a not so good situation, so I wasn't going to offer them up until I had gained their trust, but just to be sure..."

"Do you want to look at them buddy?" Cyan asked, even though he himself was a little bit curious how his brother had gotten ahold of a litter of rare Pokemon.

Cobalt looked up to his mother, seeming to want her approval of the whole situation. She placed her hand on the crown of his head and looked down to give him a warm, encouraging smile. She wasn't thrilled about a fire type, but her son's happiness was most important.

"Do whatever you think is right, honey."

Taking a big breath and puffing out his chest, Cobalt turned from his mother to look up at his uncle. He nodded his head in agreement, nervously following after the older man as he lead them to a separate room that looked like it lead to an office.

It was an office sized room, and maybe that's what it had initially been used for, but Elm had converted it into what looked like a play area for his Pokemon. Though, right now, it was housing six baby Cyndaquil, all crawling around, making little noises with every step they took. As the door closed behind the two of them, most of the pups turned their attention to the intruders, their little snorts growing louder.

"You're welcome to pet them and pick them up if they'll let you, just make sure to mind their feelings. They're a little scared of people at the moment."

"I will," Cobalt whispered, tip toeing over to them while Elm tried to cover his laughter.

Cobalt sat a foot or two away from the majority of the group of Pokemon, legs crossed over one another as he watched the small animals in front of him. After a couple quiet moments, two started to walk over to him. They gave the boy a single chuff each, quickly decided he wasn't a threat, and immediately started to climb into his lap.

"Quil! Quil~"

"I think they like me!" Cobalt whispered excitedly. His uncle laughed at him once again, but nodded his head as well.

"I'm kind of surprised. They haven't really been interested in interacting with most people."

"Mom says I'm really 'intuned with Pokemon', whatever that means."

"Yeah, I can see that," Elm trailed off, watching as one by one, the rest of the pups started to waddle their way over. They started to nose their way in between his arms, one tried hiding under his shirt, and each one gave him smiles as they played on him like a jungle gym. Well, all except one.

"Why is that one all the way over there?" The blonde boy questioned, blue eyes glued to the small Pokemon trying to hide behind their beds, though unsuccessfully.

"That one's a little more antisocial than the others. He might have been put through a lot before he came here. It could be a while before he gets comfortable around people."

Cobalt continued to pet and play with the babies in his lap, causing them to pretty much purr, but his eyes kept darting back to that lone Cyndaquil. And it continued to hide, peaking its head over the bed every now and again, only to see CObalt looking at it, then disappear with a squeak.

After a couple minutes of this, Chartreuse knocked, opening up the door just a couple inches so she could peak her head inside. Squeaking, the pups grew scared of the new comer, running to the other side of the room to hide with their other sibling.

"I didn't mean to bother you, Honey. How is everything going?"

"It's awesome! All these guys are super fun and loving. I've finally found my partner!"

Elm smiled down at the boy as the boy's mother gasped and gently clapped in her excitement. Used to this part of the job, the professor walked over to to the shelf that held the Pokeballs of each of the pups. His hands hovered over them all as he asked, "Which one is calling to you, buddy? They'll be lucky to have you as a trainer."

Standing up quickly, Cobalt scanned the room, making sure he knew exactly where the one he wanted was. Walking over to them slowly, as not to scare them even more, he walked over to the group and smiled down at the Cyndaquil that was trying to hide harder than the rest of them. Turning back to his uncle, he pointed.

"I want this one."

"Are-are you sure Cobalt? He's very skittish. I can't promise that he'll listen to you as a trainer. One of the others might be a better fit for you."

Cobalt shook his head, turning back to look at the group of Pokemon. "Just because he doesn't look like a good starting Pokemon, he deserves a chance. Being a trainer isn't supposed to be easy. It envolves a lot of work and trust, and I know this one has a lot of potential in him."

Elm looked over at Charteruse, he noted her proud smile as he sighed and nodded his head. His brother and his wife had raised a good child. Taking the Pokeball off the wall, Elm squatted down and handed it to the blonde boy.

"Those other trainers won't stand a chance against you and your team."

Cobalt's smile was blinding as he took the ball and pressed the button, calling the Cyndaquil he had chosen to its ball. Cobalt's eyes went wide as he held the filled Pokeball, holding it tightly in his hands.

"Wow, it's so warm!"

"What are you going to name him?"

Cobalt stared intently at the red and white ball between his hands, rolling it back and forth between his palms as he thought. When it came to him, he held the ball up to his eyes and seemed to be speaking only to the Cyndaquil.

"Treble. Your name is Treble."

"Cyan, it's been a week. I'm really starting to worry about them."

"Honey, the poor thing was obviously abused. You can't just expect him to trust people so quickly."

Sighing, Chartreuse put down the knife she was using to cut some apples and started to arrange them nicely on a plate absent mindedly.

"I know, but you saw how heartbroken he was at Elm's lab. He's got all his hope on this one Pokemon-"

As soon as the woman saw the top of her son's head poke around the corner, Chartreuse put a large smile on her face, motioning Cobalt farther into the kitchen.

"How are you doing sweetie? Making any progress?"

"He let me get a little bit closer to him today," he replied, walking over to grab the apples from his mother, "I think I might be able to pet him soon!"

"Alright, just make sure to be careful! You don't-"

"I won't get burnt, I promise!"

Without another word, Cobalt disappeared around the corner to head back to his room. Chartreuse sighed and Cyan came up behind her, giving her a hug as he rubbed the sides of her arms.

"He's got a strong heart and an iron will, just like you. He's going to try his hardest to get that Cyndaquil's trust, even if it never wants to battle. We've got to support whatever he decides to do."

Back pressed against the wall that lead to the kitchen, Cobalt looked down sadly at the apples in his hands. It was true that this hadn't been what Cobalt had been expecting, but he'd thought he'd made a lot of progress with Treble. The first day they'd brought him home and let him out of his Pokeball, he'd hid under the closest thing he could find and stayed there the whole day. In the end, Cobalt had to return him back to his ball since he'd almost set fire to the ottoman. Now, the Pokemon would allow Cobalt in the same room as him. It wasn't the ideal arrangement, but the young trainer knew he could do this.

Taking a deep breath, he snuck back to his room, being quick to open and close the door so Treble couldn't escape. Thankfully, he was in the same spot Cobalt had left him, on an area rug accompanied by some of his Pokemon figures. Right now, he had a Pikachu in his mouth.

"You'd rather eat plastic toys than the treats I give you?" Cobalt asked, mostly talking to himself.

"Quil," Treble growled, shaking the small toy back and forth.

Cobalt rolled his blue eyes and carefully walked towards the Pokemon, who was giving him the normal weary look. Cobalt just laid the plateof freshly cut apples a foot or so away from the Cyndaquil before going back to lean against his bed.

"I'll get you to trust me one of these days," the ten year old said, resting his head against the mattress and looking up at the ceiling, "We'll be the best of friends. We'll travel the world, and I'll get to show you so many cool things. You'll have more friends than you can count and you'll have more stories than you can tell. And one day, you might even be famous. Just like Red and his Charizard."

"Quil?" Was Treble's muffled reply, mouth still full of the bright yellow toy. Cobalt looked over at his starter, who had somehow gotten a couple inches closer to the plate of food in front of him.

"You've never heard of Red? He was from Pallet Town, just like me. He started his Pokemon adventure at ten, and he's still the youngest person to become a Pokemon Champion. I've always wanted to be just like him. That's why I got you."

While Treble was preoccupied by trying to seem uninterested in the apples in front of him, Cobalt scooted closer. When the Pokemon didn't notice, he continued to move, until the fire type sent him a look. But still, he was in touching range again, so things were looking up.

"Even if nobdy else noticed, I felt that connection to you. I know there's more to you than what most can see. You just need some time and love."

Cobalt leaned down to grab one of the apple slices and held it out in front of Treble's snout. His nose twitched, and Treble gently placed the now ruined Pikachu toy on the ground, then gave Cobalt an uncertain look.

"And since we're Pokemon and trainer, I'll always respect you and listen to you, even if it means you don't want to battle by my side. We're a team, through and through."

The Cyndaquil seemed to take these words in, since a couple seconds later, he quickly took the offered apple slice and began to munch on it. Cobalt held in his shout of victory, but couldn't keep the huge grin off his face.

"That's right buddy. It's gonna be you and me with whatever you're comfortable with. Maybe we could join the circus!"

"Quil," Treble denied immediately.

"Good point."

"Mom, we're going to be fine! You don't have to worry so much. And you can come and check up on us whenever you want."

Huffing, Chartreuse looked over her son, making sure he was completely prepared for the day ahead of them.

"No, you're right. You two will be fine. You're only going to the other end of town. Just make sure not to fall into the water. You don't want to be swept out into the sea and-"

"Mom!"

"Right! Have fun sweetie."

Cobalt gave his mom and grin of reassurance before he walked towards the front door, where he'd left Treble and his pack. Treble was sniffing around it, looking for the snacks he had packed. Cobalt scooped up the bag, much to the Cyndaquil's displeasure, then picked up Treble, the pup filling up both his arms. The Pokemon made a quick noise of protest, but was so used to the simple gesture that he soon just let it go.

"Bye mom!" The young boy said quickly, closing the door behind him right after, so his mother wouldn't try to stop him for the third time.

"Alright Treble, today we're going to go somewhere we've never been before. You might not like it at first, because there's water-"

"Cyndaquil!"

"Oh, don't be such a drama queen, you're not getting a bath!"

The fire type seemed distrustful for a moment, giving his trainer a narrow eyed look, before grumbling under his breath.

"It's gonna be fun, I promise," Cobalt reassured, starting to waddle awkwardly, since the Pokemon was starting to slip out of his arms. Treble said nothing to this, but looked around at the town that he had never seen before. While they had gone outside, it had only been in the family yard. The buildings, even if they were few and far between, were completely new to the Cyndaquil. And while he wasn't happy to be going somewhere with water, Cobalt could tell that he was excited to just see some place new.

By the time they had finally gotten to their destination, Cobalt was barely hanging onto the Pokemon, with his body swinging side to side like a piece in a grandfather clock. Cobalt gently plopped him onto the grass, letting out a tired sigh and wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Whew, that was a long walk. How did you like it?"

"Quil~!"

Treble was almost spinning around in circles trying to take in their new scenery all at once. On one side of them was a patch of tall grass, a lot smaller than it had ever been before, swaying gently in the afternoon breeze. And in front of them was the large expanse of the sea, with waves softly hitting the edge of the bank, spraying up a tiny bit and covering the grass in a sprinkle of water. Cobalt looked down at the awestruck Pokemon and smiled.

"This is Route 21. It's a long water path, but it eventually leads to Cinnabar Island. It used to be this really amazing island that had a haunted mansion, a super cool science facility, and even a Gym and Pokemon center! Not too long ago, though, the volcano there erupted and destroyed everything."

"Cyndaquil!" Treble exclaimed happily, curving his back and showing the young boy the small wall of flames he had produced.

"Yeah, kind of like that!" Cobalt laughed, finally sitting down next to his starter, looking out into the sea.

"I've always wanted to visit that Island, even if it isn't much of anything anymore. It used to be the last place you ended up on your Pokemon journey before you made your way back to Pallet. Then you could challenge the Elite Four, and even the Champion and see if you had what it takes. I wanted to do that in every region, see what they all had to offer..."

Noticing Treble staring at him, Cobalt shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts to paste a smile to his face. He lightly patted the Cyndaquil's warm head, ignoring Treble's grumble as he did so.

"Don't worry buddy. We can always travel the world another way. Maybe we could be historians!"

"Quil."

"True. Are you sure you don't want join the circus?"

"Cynda!"

"What do you mean you don't have a talent? Fire comes out of your back-"

A rustle from the small patch of tall grass next to them cut the young boy off. Both trainer and Pokemon stopped what they were doing to stare, watching nervously as the grass shook angrily. After a second, it stopped, leaving the grass motionless. Cobalt and Treble looked at one another, sweat drops forming on their heads.

"It was probably just the wind?" It hadn't been the wind.

"Q-Quil." Treble didn't believe that either.

"Maybe we should head back to-"

Cobalt didn't have a chance to finish his sentence. From that same patch of grass, a wild Pokemon appeared, cawing angrily as it flew at them.

"Taillow!"

"Quil!" Treble cried, curling up into a ball, awaiting the attack that he could see coming. Acting before he even had a chance to think, Cobalt jumped in front of his starter, startling the bird enough for it to come to a halt. Oh man, this had been exactly what his mother had been worried about. How was he supposed to defend them from this?

"Um, we uh, we don't want any trouble Mr. Taillow. W-we'll leave now."

The bird seemed to take that in for a moment, looking like it was about to turn around, when Treble's whimpers grew in sound, echoing around them. The mere sound triggered the Taillow, and it started to fly again. Higher than it had before, as if it was trying to fly over Cobalt. Straight towards Treble.

"I don't think so!"

As it went to dive, so did Cobalt. He threw his body on top of Treble's, cocooning him with arms and legs as the Pokemon's attacks finally came down. The Taillow started to peck, trying different spots to see if any would grant him better access to the crying Pokemon.

"Ah!" Cobalt exclaimed, trying to tuck away his neck when he felt the bird draw blood.

Feeling something wet on his cheek, the boy was able to open one eye to see his fire type, who was looking at him in concern and had licked his cheek in question. Another peck from the bird made him wince, but he didn't close his eye. He gave his boy another smile.

"D-don't worry about it bud. This is what trainers and Pokemon do. They protect one another. I know you're scared, but you don't have to worry. Trust me to keep you safe."

Cobalt felt claws in his back now, like the bird had landed, and he hissed but wiggled around, trying to dislodge the thing.

"Get off me! You're being-" A squawk, "Very rude!"

Suddenly, Treble was wiggling around in his arms, and Cobalt was losing the structure of his protection. He tried to hold on tighter, but it only seemed to make his starter wriggle more.

"Just stay still Treble! He'll go away soon!"

"Cyndaquil!" Treble yelled, and soon he was free. Cobalt cried out, trying to scramble to get him back before he ran away, but the bird was still trying to attack him. Until it heard a growl from the Cyndaquil.

"Taill?"

Free from the barrage of claws and beak, the blonde was able to turn around to look at the scene unfolding before him. Treble had taken a solid stance in front of his trainer, his eyes narrowed to slits, and from so close, Cobalt could feel the heat pouring off of him as he readied for what seemed like an attack.

"Cynda. Quil." Treble seemed to be giving a warning.

"Taiilow!" And the bird was not having it. It flew straight towards Treble, claws glinting in the sun. Cobalt cried out, trying to reach out to protect his friend, but Treble was quicker.

Faster than lightning, he whipped around, showing the bird his back. And the fire that erupted from him. It completely dowsed the flying type Pokemon, and when the fire stopped, it seemed to hover in mid air for a second, blinking in astonishment, before it shook itself off and flew away in fear. As it escaped, one of its tail feathers, almost burnt to a crisp, fell down and landed in the grass, turning to dust before them.

"Cynda! Cyndaquil!"

It took Cobalt a moment to recover from the shock, but once he did, he gave and opened mouth look of surprise to his starter. Cyndaquil was sitting there happily, smiling at his trainer while a small ember of flame still raged at his back.

"You... Buddy you did it! You were in a real life Pokemon battle! Oh man, that was so cool, and you did such a good job!"

Turning off his fire, Treble jumped into his trainer's arms, laughing along with the boy as he hugged him tight and twirled him around.

"I'm so proud of you! I can't believe that just happened. Wait, does that, does that mean you want to-"

"Quil."

"Really?! I'm not pressuring you am I? I know it was exciting and all, but if you don't want to do it-"

"Cynda. Cyndaquil."

Cobalt quickly stood up, holding his Pokemon high above his head and laughing.

"We're gonna be the best Pokemon team in the world!"

0 notes

encyclopika · 5 years ago

Text

How to write a fight scene

Or at least how I do it.

Been getting quite a few people saying I write pretty good fight scenes, and honestly? I didn’t know that. I’m mostly self-taught and just out here writing fic. Hearing you all enjoy my fight scenes is just awesome. Missing has been one hell of an adventure personally, and I’m glad everyone who has come along for the ride has had an experience.

But I also see people saying they can’t write a fight scene for one reason or another. That’s not true! You can totally write a fight/battle scene and the first step to doing so is recognizing that it’s a scene like any other in your fic. A fight is a dialogue between characters - not only will the audience learn something about the characters, but so, too, will the characters learn something about each other and maybe even about themselves. In BNHA, that’s especially true.

The next step is deciding what you want to happen and what you want out of it. For example, in Missing's first fight, (spoilers ahead):

I wanted to accentuate the severity of the downed building situation

I wanted to show you all what Krow could and could not do

I wanted the villains to be formidable, but easily defeated

I wanted Uravity and Deku to reconnect on the battlefield

I wanted izuocha uwu

and ya know what? I wanted zombies.

So, just like that, make yourself a wishlist of points, scenes, and interactions you want to include.

Then, know your characters. If the above is your crazy wishlist, your characters, their dreams, wants, quirks, knowledge, weaknesses, and personalities are the boundaries of what you can write and what will “make sense”. This will also dictate when villains appear - if they are gung-ho like Pyromancer, they might reveal themselves confidently. Consider relationships. Do your characters know each other? How will they react if so-and-so does this? Study your canon characters closely - look at how they react to things in canon, who they cling to, how their quirks REALLY work, and the types of strategies they think of, then apply it to your story. I can’t tell you how insanely LIMITED I felt during both fights making Ochako’s quirk work for me. But that’s just it.

Make it work for you. Place characters where they need to be and explain how they got there later. Don’t let your characters give you the run around or get lost. You are in charge of the story and where everyone is. No one moves unless you say so.

And you explain it. How come Pyromancer isn’t moving around much? Well, he doesn’t have to. Keeping him in one spot lets me show you how much he really doesn’t take Uravity seriously and is confident he’s going to win. He doesn’t feel like he needs to fight so hard. Backstage, I can focus on other parts of the fight. But even when Echo the bat was flying around in the first big fight, we never really knew where he was, and no one but Krow ended up caring. Necromancer was the only villain moving about and his movements meant something. In that case, if you feel like you may forget where everyone is in relation to each other, there’s no shame in drawing it out. But remember - no one moves without your direction, and if they are put on auto-pilot, they can really reappear where ever the heck you want. They can be as far away or as close as you need them, within the confines of the setting and their abilities. Place your characters.

Setting is so important. It will limit you as well. If it’s a tight space, flying characters may have trouble, etc. Again, make it work for you. I made my downed buildings into coliseums. Why? Because I wanted to limit how many fighters were in the ring. I like a closed system. If you have an open system. like a street, you may have more freedom to have, I don’t know, All Might swoop in from no where to save the day (and you can explain it later). What happens in your fight is only limited by the setting and the characters.

Then there’s stringing everything above together into a narrative you can be proud of. Pacing is tough. I get it. Pacing is something I feel comes with your style, though - what kinds of punctuation, words, and spacing you want to use is on you and it all depends on how you want people to feel. In Missing, I like to use words and empty space for my pacing. If an action happens quickly, it happens all in one sentence. If the action is slow and drawn out, then I’ll get into the nitty gritty details. I may also follow a character’s train of thought and have them notice things about their opponent - whatever the hell will make this moment drag on. I literally fill space so that real world time moves at a pace congruent with what I’m talking about. I’m spinning the same sentiment a bunch of ways to make you feel something but to also literally spend your time.

And I’ll drop to a new line if I want to impart a literal quiet in your mind.

Those single sentences surrounded by white space make an impact.

Single words do, too.

See?

You can even raise suspense a bit by just talking about how quiet it is and visibility is low because of xyz. Insert some dread, some suspense as you follow the character’s worries about where the villain will show next. Then! Short, quick sentences raise fear. Little information makes you wonder. The anxiety is building. The adrenaline is pumping. Is it becoming dire? Am I dragging you down this rabbit hole by inserting a question into the narrative, in turn, making YOU ask it?

Kill the mood, if you must. Keep the reader abreast of the situation. M’kay?

Punctuation can also help a ton. Using em-dashes to interrupt thoughts with actions, inserting questions, using commas and semicolons right, and what not will make your writing interesting. Structure means a lot in all writing, and for fight scenes, using these tools correctly can make or break your scene.

Words themselves are super important, too. In a fight, you want to use colorful words that SHOW what is going on (leave Dictionary.com open - check definitions early and often, look for better words with the thesaurus, rinse and repeat). I love the word “whip”, like “he whipped his head around” - I personally feel like that word is fast and shows how fast my character turned around. You can feel the surprise. I also really love all those “heavy hitting” words - smash, slam, crack, bang - that inform your reader of the severity of a hit. Reactions to said hits are also good follow up to drive it home and continue a good sequence - coughed up blood, doubled over, air racing out of lungs, gasping, stinging, ringing in ears - however it happens, let your reader know. Get your metaphors and similes cranking. How can you explain what it feels like to get burned really badly or get sliced deeply by a knife? Let your audience feel that pain with your character. Reading should be a trip.

And for the love of broccoli, if you don’t know how something would realistically go down, do some research! That’s a rant for another day... Anyway!

I also let my audience assume a lot. When Deku and Uravity are fighting Necromancer, their back and forth against the monster isn’t really detailed. I explained to you how it looks once and then I tell you to imagine that a bunch as I go off on a tangent about how Ochako is feeling and what she’s thinking during it because Deku’s in the room. In chapter 6, Flashlight, Krow, Current, and Uravity are fighting this small-time villain, and instead of really talking about how the heroes are punching the villain and what not, I have Krow talking the whole time and Current is busy getting butthurt and we learn a little bit more how Uravity’s been doing since leaving school. Not every fight is epic. Not every hit is important or deserves attention. How details ebb and flow is another part of writing that will depend a lot upon your style.

To help with pacing over the course of the whole fight, break down your fight into phases. A phase can be thought of as a “scene” in the fight, where things are noticeably different than before, either in character assemblage, setting, or feeling. Breaking it down into smaller pieces will help you bring it all together.

And last, but not least, if it helps, treat your fight like it’s own story. It has a beginning, rising action, climax, turning point, a twist maybe, declining actions, and an end, whatever that may be. How your fight is set up is all on your ability to tell the story, and for that, I can’t help too much more. In the end, it’s all about knowing what your goals are and what the parameters are before starting.

This isn’t to say that once you make your plans you have to stick with it. I changed so much and cut a lot out and did things differently than planned while actually writing. There are other outside forces that affect a fight scene, like the themes in your fic so far, and what you have and haven’t revealed about the characters. Like any scene, there’s a lot to keep in mind.

How do you really write a good fight scene? Practice, practice, practice!

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